I MADE THIS.

Yes I did. I have branched out into some light sowing. Think I might make some more as I really enjoyed doing it. Let me know if you are interested in one. Can custom design any face and material for the back. So, to add to my etsy shop or not....

THREE NEW SIZE PRINTS

Hello! So you may remember I have these A3 prints for sale in my shop. Well I've been meaning to sell them in a different size and a recent request prompted me to do so. The cat, dog and the owl are now available as 8 x 10 inch prints printed on Somerset Enhanced watercolour paper 225gsm. The paper is lovely, feels wonderful and is a 100% cotton fairly heavy weight paper. They will be shipped in a cellophane wrapper and in a sturdy cardboard envelope. I'm currently offering them at the price of $20 (or £12.91) Pop over to my shop and have a look. I have four new prints coming in the next week and then a special pre Christmas giveaway to celebrate them arriving so keep checking back here!

THE BLANKET {sarah elwick}

This is my second review of one of my very clever friends over on the left. This time it is the lovely Sarah Elwick up for answering a few questions about herself and her *new* on line shop she has set up. I was very lucky to receive one of her gorgeous baby blankets in the post as a little swap for some artwork. I was excited when it arrived as I'd seen little peeks on instagram and facebook. And my oh my did it not disappoint, it is gorgeous in the flesh. My husband LOVED it too and didn't even say "do you really need another blanket" which in itself was a flipping miracle!

I used to go to art foundation with Sarah (I know it does seem like I'm a little biased and only currently reviewing 'Sarah's'!) She has moved up to Winchester to teach and create these masterpieces. She has recently exhibited at MADE in London and will be showing and selling her beautiful stuff at MADE in Brighton on Friday 23rd, Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th November. Make sure if you are in the area you pop in and have a look, or check out her shop on line.

I asked her a few question so you could get to know a bit more about her and her work...

WHAT DID YOU STUDY TO GET WHERE YOU ARE NOW

I studied for a BA(hons) in textile design, specialising in knitwear at Winchester School of Art, graduating with a 1st in 2003. I then went straight onto study for an MA in Menswear Knitwear at the Royal College of Art. Both courses were absolutely fantastic, and really taught me to think creatively, and developed my personal handwriting as a designer.

WHY IS PRODUCING AND SOURCING MATERIALS FROM THE UK SO IMPORTANT?

After I graduated from the RCA I worked as a knitwear designer for a company that mass produced knitwear collections for clients in the US. They manufactured this knitwear using factories in the Far East, where the motto seemed to be 'make 'em cheap and pile 'em high', and any slightly more interesting construction technique,  high end yarn, or stitch pattern would usually be ruled out because it would be too expensive to produce.

This experience really opened my eyes to the conditions that cheap knitwear is made in, and gave me the impetus to want to start making something here in the UK, being able to design products that I felt passionately about, using high quality yarn, and supporting the extremely skilled knitwear, and yarn producers we have in the country, hopefully helping to keep this important part of out manufacturing heritage alive.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO MAKE SUCH AMAZING COLOUR COMBINATIONS!

This year for my new geometric merino collection, I was inspired by patchwork quilts, and other traditional 'folk' textiles, such as Scandinavian Fairisle knitwear, and traditional welsh wool blankets, as they all have quite bold, graphic colourways and patterns, which I always seem to be drawn to. I got particularly inspired by this blog called Folk Object: http://folkobject.tumblr.com/ which has whole a wealth of inspiring Folk art and textile images to view. 

I then digest this information over a period of a few weeks/months. At this stage I tend to procrastinate for ages over a wide variety of inspiration and imagery, and then gradually designs and patterns seem to come naturally to the front of what I'm working on. If my gut reaction says 'YES!' then I go with it! It's difficult to know which designs and colourways will be popular, but I think you have to rely on your gut instinct about what makes you feel most excited as a designer, and try and take a few risks with new work each year.

WHERE CAN PEOPLE SEE YOUR WORK AND BUY YOUR BEAUTIFUL THINGS.

My work is available to buy through my online shop on my website: http://sarahelwick.com/ through Notonthehighstreet, or through a few shops I have listed on my website. I am always on the look-out for suitable new outlets, so please get in touch if you would like to stock my work.

Other than that I've just shown my work at MADE LONDON, which was brilliant, and from the 22nd-25th of November I will be exhibiting at MADE12 in Brighton: http://www.brighton-made.co.uk/ please pop by and say hello if you can!

DO YOU HAVE A PLAN OF WHAT YOU'D LIKE TO PRODUCE NEXT?

After really great feedback on my work from MADE LONDON on my new geometric merino range of accessories, I plan to continue to develop this range of products next year. I want to design a new range of womens luxury fineguage merino scarves, that really showcase the beautiful merino yarns to their full potential.

DO YOU FIND TEACHING A BENEFIT TO YOUR PROFESSIONAL PRACTISE?

Definitely. I think having to explain techniques, and approaches to students really enhances my knowledge and understanding of certain processes. I also find it really inspiring to see what my students design, as they are looking a process with fresh eyes, and so can often be really innovative and push the boundaries of the discipline.

ASIDE FROM COFFEE WHAT CAN YOU NOT LIVE WITHOUT?!

Well I'm more of a tea person to be honest, so tea, and red wine, oh and probably houmous. I eat it pretty much every day!

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE WANTING TO START UP THEIR OWN BUSINESS

Be prepared to work ten times as hard as you think you will need to. 

Do shows where you can sell your work to the public as soon as you can. The feedback you will get on your work, what people like and dislike about your products, and whether ultimately will you be able to sell them to make enough money to make a living out of it, will be invaluable. 

Don't undercharge for your work. If something is handmade, using good quality raw materials, people expect to pay a bit more for it. If you're only making a couple of pounds profit from each item, you're never going to be able to sustain it as a business.

Ask for advice. From your peers, tutors, other people running a similar business to you, organisations who run workshops. Ask what shows they recommend, how they price their work, how they produce their work, etc, etc. As long as you're not in direct competition with them, they will probably be happy to help you.

Always thank people who have helped you along the way. Whether it's tutors, show organisers, suppliers, friends who photographed your work for you, or modelled your work for you, whatever it is say thankyou, and if you can't pay them offer them something in kind. In my case, some knitwear in return for something I need help with always goes down well, and you never know when you might need them again...!

Me and Stanley also did a little photo shoot for Sarah to help with images on her website. You can see more here, but a little glimpse of what we got up to is below. I think it is so important to support these hardworking individuals as best we can. There are so many huge brands out there making tonnes of money by selling cheaply made things out of not very nice, unsustainable materials. I think if we can buy a little less but buy locally or from people we know then just perhaps we can make a real success out of good, talented people.

CUSTOM PORTRAITS

I've got a new listing in my Etsy shop for custom portraits! Wahoooo! They are original hand drawn and coloured illustrations of your child with their favourite pet/stuffed animal OR your child with their new sibling perhaps. An example of one I have already done is up in the shop now that I did for Drea over at OhDearDrea and her gorgeous daughter Marlowe and their dog Jerry. At the moment you can win one of my custom portraits over on her blog. I'm thinking that they might make for a special Christmas present (heck yes, I AM thinking about christmas already!) Hope you like them!

ARCHIE'S

Hello there lovely readers. Today I wanted to introduce you to the first of my posts about my friends on the left side of my blog. I wanted to have some banners on my blog in support of the people I know and the things they do and make. It is sometimes tricky out there to survive amongst so many other people doing similar things, especially in the creative industry, and so I'm proud to support my friends doing what they love.

First up is the lovely Sarah (I know right, great name?!) and her new on line shop 'Archies'. This venture is very new - so I hope you will pop on over there to take a little look at the things she is stocking, and hey, maybe even buy something if the impulse takes you! At the moment I love this brand and would love to see Stanley in these! If you are looking for a gift for a new baby these are pretty perfect. We got given one when Stanley was born and I used it as a cover up for breast feeding, a swaddle blanket, a burb cloth, a blanket to lay down at other peoples houses, to cover when he was cold and to keep the sun off him when he was warm. We still use it now and they really do get better the more you wash them! She also stocks vintage bits & bobs, prints (a few of mine!), toys, shoes ohhhh the list goes on!

Sarah is a lovely lady, a new(ish) mama too to the gorgeous Jonah who has just turned one. Can you imagine opening up a shop and juggling a one year old?! Us mama's are pretty amazing sometimes. She has taken a few moments to answer a few questions to tell you a tiny bit more about herself...

WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE YOU BECAME A MOTHER?
I am a Graphic Designer by training doing my degree at Kingston University. I worked for several years in design agencies before moving to an in-house creative marketing position at Christie’s Fine Art Auctioneers. I had a team of 15 designers and 6 magazines to publish each month so it was a high pressure, long-hours job, but I loved it - it was creative, varied, challenging, I got to travel the world and I found the group of print and digital designers that I managed really inspiring.

WHAT MADE YOU START UP YOUR SHOP 'ARCHIE'S'?
I had always planned to return to work after a one year maternity leave period, but when Jonah was actually born I realised that I couldn’t go back to a job that would take me away from him 12 hours a day, 5 days a week. So, I didn’t go back, but about 4 months in I was getting itchy feet to do something creative and knew that I wanted to work in some capacity, but doing something new where I could be my own boss, set my own hours and work around Jonah’s needs. I spent many a midnight hour dreaming up vague plans (Jonah didn’t sleep very well at all until he was 10 months old), and then I stumbled across a shop to let in Crystal Palace where I live. Due to my personal circumstances and a definite baby boom in the area, I decided I wanted to open a shop, selling stylish, design-led products for babies. I did a LOT of research, sourced my stock, developed my brand, wrote my business plan... and then days before I was due to get the keys, the property fell through. I was heartbroken. But, after a few weeks of Bridget Jones style depression, I picked myself up, re-wrote my business plan and decided to put all my hard work to use and open online. I had such a strong vision for what my shop should be. I wanted to combine style and design with craftmanship and quality whilst supporting independent artists and makers - and Archie’s is my interpretation of that.

HOW HAS BECOMING A MOTHER MADE YOU A BETTER PERSON?
I am not naturally a very patient person, but the patience and selflessness that being a mother demands from you has really chilled me out. If you had told me that I wouldn’t mind that it takes me an hour to get out of the house because I have to put the same pair of shoes back on Jonah’s feet 6 times because he keeps taking them off, or read the same story at every single nap time and bedtime, or listen to the same tinny tune on some VTech gadget without going insane; I’d never have believed you! It totally amazes me that one tiny little human being can have that effect.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A FIRST TIME MUM?
Relax a bit. Nobody is perfect, we are all learning as we go along. Don’t underestimate how much you can communicate with your child, even when they are very young. Guidelines are not rules. Do not spend time feeling guilty about your parenting skills - because a stressed-out, guilt-ridden mother doesn’t make for a fun childhood! Oh, and treasure every, single moment.

ASIDE FROM COFFEE WHAT CAN YOU NOT LIVE WITHOUT?!
My family and friends (soppy but true) and liquid eyeliner.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SECRETS OR TIPS TO MAKING MOTHERHOOD A TEENY BIT EASIER?
Have some time away, even for a couple of hours a week. I sing in a gospel choir and I returned to rehearsals when Jonah was 8 weeks old. It wasn’t easy to start with, I would spend all day expressing enough milk to leave behind for my husband to feed him with, but I had 2 hours every week where I could completely escape, keep my own identity and relax. Although I was hugely sleep-deprived, a change was as good as a rest. I’m so grateful to my husband for giving me that time - it has been invaluable... and still is!

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE WANTING TO START UP THEIR OWN BUSINESS
Take a chance if you have it. As long as you have a good business plan, researched it a LOT and calculated your risk - go for it. No regrets. 

Oh, and you should pop on over to her blog too. Lots of good tips, shop updates and handy food recipes. And you all know how obsessed I am about feeding!!

PS They've re-set the top baby blog counter, so if you could take a second to vote for me, then that'd be just lovely, thank you xxx

GIVEAWAY!

So to celebrate the opening of my Etsy shop I am offering a lovely reader the chance to win one of my new A3 prints above. They are professionally printed digitally from my original illustrations on 9 LIVES paper which is a lovely recycled wood free paper. Size 420mm h x 297mm w or 16.5 inches h x 11.7 inches w.

You can see more details of the prints at my shop.

So it is very simple. I'm afraid I'm not that savvy and on twitter, facebook and the like, so all you have to do is leave a comment below stating which of the three you'd like to win and why, and I will pick the winner at random and announce in a weeks time - Monday 13th August!

Good luck and I hope you like them!

♥ S & s

MY ETSY SHOP - IS NOW OPEN!

Well it has been a long time coming. If I hadn't set this deadline on myself I can guarantee that this day probably would have been another few months coming...there is ALWAYS something else to do round the house. Whether it be the boring old washing up or playing with Stanley or my other book work, distractions here are plenty.

Anyway for most I guess it is no big deal. It seems with everything I'm late to join in. Story of my life hey! I see there are SO many Etsy shops - many of which are selling beautiful animal illustration prints for children's nurseries or art prints for who ever to enjoy. I almost felt for a while like there was no point opening the shop up. Why should I compete against already well established shops. Not only did that just sound silly and a bit 'poor me' but you lot all gave such positive feedback I thought what the hell, let's give this a go! So here I am testing it out on you guys first. I really appreciate the small group of followers I have on this blog and all the others that drop in from time to time so I hope you like what you see. I have a giveaway coming up in a week or so to mark the arrival of the A3 prints I'm currently having professionally digitally printed. When they are in the shop too I want to do a giveaway for one of you - my lovely readers to win!

So please if you get a minute pop on over to my shop for a visit. I am selling a mixture of digital prints from my illustrations and what I'm particularly excited about is selling my original book artwork from my children's books. I will be adding more lines as I go, hopefully greetings cards as well as other personalised goods like wedding stationery, baby announcements etc. Generally freeing up room in my plans chest, and making room for baby no2 when we decide to go down that route!

Make sure you pop in from time to time and see what's new. If any of you have any feedback or criticism with my shop I'd like to hear it - all will be helpful to me to make this a great success.

Thank you, ♥ S xoxo

SHOP OPENING!

It's finally happening! Just loading the last few images up and sorting out details etc. Check back on August 1st for final details, a grand(ish) unveiling and a giveaway!
Whoop de doop!