Picnic baskets - Summer is here (hopefully)

Hello hello everyone, it's been a while, I have been a busy bee trying to meet a few deadlines.   I was very excited to see some of my designs on the Bhs website.

Strawberry floral

It was over a year ago that I started freelancing, and one of my first jobs (from my lovely friends at Bhs), has now come into the shops.  The Floral Strawberry design, specifically designed for the hampers.  Love the vintage style basket below.

Perfect for vintage style picnic!

Top right door mat, taken from last year's photo frame design.  Cute a!

Strawberry picnic wine glass.

Fruity mug design!

I can't take any credit for the very cute mug design, but they put the flowers and strawberries to very good use!  Perfect for sipping an afternoon brew from.

Flower painting

Hello everyone, it's been so bitterly cold this week, snow, and windy weather do not make good companions.  I'm going a little crazy being stuck in the house, so think I'll have to brave it outside to clear my head, and get some fresh air.

  Last week there was a day of blissful sun, so I painted some flowers outside.  Below are some photos of what I produced.  I painted hyacinths as I had some in bloom, (which smell delightful), and some cute border florals and butterflies with watercolour paints.

Just need to work these into designs on Illustrator now!

New patterns

Hi there and happy Friday!  These last 2 weeks have been busy for me, so am very ready to relax this weekend.  I've added a couple of new items to my Beetroot Press shops on Folksy and Etsy, A4 paper prints for your wall, and more to follow in A3 too!

I've also started growing some peas, radishes and salad rocket, with tomatoes to follow.  We don't have loads of outside space so will be interesting to see where I'm going to fit it all.  Eek!

Scandi apple:  BHS design for kitchenware

I've also been working on updating my portfolio with new designs and revamping older designs.   Below are some of those and I'll add a few more in a couple of weeks.  Take a look at my online portfolio to take a peek.

Decorative frames: Paper goods

Zig zag: Home and paper goods

Paper cut sky: Home and stationary

Photographic floral: Girls fashion/Home/Paper goods

Hedgerow bird: Living/Paper goods

Art on Etsy

Hello everyone,
  Have you all had a good week?  My week has been really good work wise and have started a new diet which is not much fun, but a welcome break from all the chocolate, cheese and wine consumed around Christmas time.

This week I wanted to share Mina Braun with you. Mina is an illustrator and printmaker from Germany, currently living in the UK, Scotland and she has an online shop which I came across a few weeks ago.  Mina is inspired by themes revolving around folklore, fairy tales and nature.  I love her style of drawing and the simple colour palettes.  Have a look at her etsy shop here.

Another artist I like on Etsy is Melanie Mikecz who is a designer that uses mixed media.  Melanie owns the shop TwoEms where she sells prints of her work which are hand painted/sketched and scanned in to adapt on Photoshop.  I love the colours, textures and characters in her work.

The last Etsy shop I'm sharing today is Anna See.   Her hand-pulled prints of birds and other animals are simply gorgeous.  Her range also includes cute houses and shoe prints.  Anna lives in Summerlin South, USA, and loves to be able to share her creativity with the world!

Snow snow snow

This week has been all about the snow!  My boyfriend and I did go for a walk when it first snowed and took lots of photos, as I'm sure you all have here in the UK, but have stayed in the warm for the rest of the week.  I've been busy making cute presents for friend's babies and I've also been working on my portfolio and creating designs for the studio I work for.

I now have another blog, which is my Beetroot Press hand-printed home and gifts side of things.  Here's the link to see.  There's a few new photos of the Christmas fair we did, sketches and press items. Have a happy week everyone.

The little white book of surface pattern designers

Happy Friday everyone,
  We had to get some supplies in for the forth coming snow, now, I thought it was an over-reaction, but apparently people can get snowed in around here.  Juls went to the supermarket and apparently everyone was going mad trying to get last minute rations, and most of the shelves were becoming empty!  Craziness.  I have looked out the window this morning, and there is snow, but not loads...yet.  Gladly I don't need to leave the house to work!

Pattern Addict

There is a new Surface pattern designers reference website at findnewdesigners.com.   It's an online book called, 'The little white book of surface pattern designers. 2013' showing established and up-and-coming freelance pattern designers.   It features me on page 81! and there are many wonderful designers included, so it's worth having a peek.

Here are some of my favorites, just click on the captions to go to their websites.

Pattern and Co

Onneke

Njeri Designs

There is also a facebook page where you can see more work going forwards.  So come and say hello!

Fresh start

Hi Everyone, and Happy new year!  Hope you all had a great festive break.  I have been away for a while from blogging as had a bit of surgery and have been recovering, along with Christmas gatherings and the obligatory cold!

I made the above stocking for my friend's baby, Grace.  This is a photo from my friend with the stocking in place, ready for Santa.

I think this year is definitely a year for change, and more action!  Last year I was finding my feet a little with starting out freelancing and with Beetroot Press; my little business where I sell home and gifts on Folksy and Etsy.

I have made a few new year's resolutions, and one being that I go for more walks in my area and try to start doing a bit of foraging.  And to my delight, on our last walk, we found some chickweed, which you can add to salads or heat for a couple of minutes in butter and tastes like a mild lettuce, very nice.  I purchased the Collins gem, 'Food for free' book which has all the plants you can find out and about, season by season and it's in a handy pocket size, so easy to take along with you.

Below is the blackberry jam I made at Christmas, from foraged berries, as gifts for family.  I managed to keep half a pot for us, and it tasted pretty good, which surprised me as I have never made it before.  It was also much easier than I thought it would be, you just need to buy a cooking thermometer if you don't have one.  Here's the recipe I used, and make sure you sterilise the jars.

Other resolutions are to be more active in marketing myself, make new products for Beetroot Press by trying out different print techniques and see how they sell.  If you are interested, you can follow my path on the Beetroot press Facebook page where I post all my new items before I put them in my online shops and ask people's opinions.

So, I hope you all have a productive and happy year ahead, and do what you love!

Prints in craft magazine

Hello peeps, no posts for ages then three in one week.  Hope you are all well?  Here's some Christmas designs I created for Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine.  This issue has just come out ready for December and the designs can only be found in this magazine.

Christmas rose

Poinsettia

Ivy

Holly

front cover

ideas on how to use the papers

Preview of good things to come - bhs

Hello all, I saw a blog post about the new BHS range this morning and thought I'd add it for you all to see as it looks so good.  It's the Brighton range and it's due to come out next year.  Follow this link to see the full post and more images.  I didn't work on this, but I know the team that did!  A very well done to them.