Pink and Fluffy

It's official, I've gone soft. My crazy, bouncy, outdoor loving, puddle jumping daughter it seems has a penchant for anything pink and fluffy. And the pinker and fluffier the better. Worst still I had a mad moment in a department store and let her choose a ball of the pinkest and fluffiest wool you have ever seen, took it home, found my knitting needles which I haven't touched since I was about 16 and a few hours later this creature emerged which Anya thankfully recognises as a cat! Whats wrong with me? I'll be wearing pinnies and fluffy slippers next. Oh hang on, I'm already wearing fluffy slippers. Pink ones too. With cats on - OH NO!

Snow at Last!

Not a huge amount unfortunately but the first we've had this winter and the kids couldn't wait to get out in it. This was Anya's first proper snow experience so the walk to school took twice as long as normal, until her hands got cold. And no prizes for guessing where that snowball ended up!

Butterflies

New Card Design

It's not finished but this is what I designed the pattern below for. I'm not naturally good at cartoony styles but I've been drawing this little girl in various forms for months now and I think I'm getting a style I'm comfortable with. Drawing the hands and face have been the biggest challenge! The one line drawing excercises have done a lot to help by removing my need to draw what I know them to look like, let the drawing work on its own merit. Does that make sense? Probably not but I've got a head full of cotton wool. Time to watch some trashy tv and chill.

Flower Power

Valentine

New tutorial here. Enjoy!

William Blake

Fans of William Blake and journalling should go and check this out as the British Library has scanned some of the pages from one of his notebooks. Very cool. Link here. Found via http://drawn.ca/.

More mini collages

Tulips, Track and Winter, all 4 x 4 inches, collages on paper, on Etsy

Escape

collage on paper 4 by 4 inches, on etsy

Ethnic Ellie

Personalised nursery canvas new in the shop

Pattern heaven

I've loved patterns from an early age. Mum would by those mathematic pattern books that were big in the 70's (I've since discovered the science museum still makes them) and I would sit and colour them in for hours and hours - clever mum, anything to get me from under her feet! At college I even considered textile and fashion as a career path but my other love of books and lettering won over and I chose graphic design and illustration instead. I still bought a load of pattern source books which have proved useful here and there but now that I have finally figured out how to create patterns on my computer they are coming into their own and are the main source of inspiration for my new wedding designs. No more being at the mercy of suppliers who decide to stop stocking a line of paper half way through an order and I can guarantee mine are 100% original! By the way did I tell you I was a contol freak?

New Wedding Designs

Here's a sneaky peak at one of the new wedding designs I was working on yesterday. I'd got into a bit of a slump with the wedding designs last year, didn't like what I was doing but couldn't come up with anything new that was 'mine'. So I've started again this time with a bit more enthusiasm and inspiration; there's more emphasis on drawing and I'm designing my own patterns, basically I'm concentrating the things I like and enjoy doing and am good at. Calligraphy and type are back in with vengence this year, something I've always loved even when it wasn't fashionable so that has spurred me on to experiment with those in a new way too.

Vision

My new found organisational skills are serving me well at the moment, how long it will last I don't know but it feels good to be free of domestic contraints. My work space is free of clutter, my house work is completed by doing little bits often instead of leaving it to mount up. I have had 2 whole days of work, or rather play time, to do what the little one and I choose. We've painted, drawn, watched the whole first series of Charlie and Lola twice, read a small ton of books and gone out for walks in the rain to splosh in the puddles. I've also sorted through 6 months of emails, updated my blog templates to the new beta version, redone the homepage of my shop, done 2 illos, 2 new wedding card prototypes, made a list of things I want to make and sell through various websites, completed a few sketches and the living room is tidy-ish and the washing up done. Phew. My head is still a muddle, but it's a good muddle.

Illustration Friday - Buzz

This weeks Illustration Friday is rather topical as buzz is the noise that is permanently inside my head at the moment. I'm always hearing voices and words and singing songs anyway which in turn get translated in pictures, and if that wasn't enough I've got bees buzzing round and round and causing me to wake at 3 oclock in the morning and not go back to sleep. I've spent the remainder of my Christmas break sorting and shredding, cleaning and dusting, trying to get the house and my life straight for the new year in the hope that getting rid of the physical clutter will help get rid of the mental clutter but the noise has just got louder. I'm excited and fearful all at the same time - the prospect of a new job (only part time), new website (watch this space), new house (fingers crossed), to name but a few things for the next 12 months has got me in a spin to the point where I feel exhilarated and exhausted all at the same time. What is really putting me under pressure is the knowledge that in order for these things to happen I have to go out and get them and I'm not naturally a go out and get kind of girl. I usually amble along at my own pace and see what happens. Not this time. The ambitious, strong Karen that I know is in me somewhere is being forced to come out whether she likes it or not! I can do it I will do it!

New Year

Happy New Year to everyone, hope you all had a fabulous holiday! The photo was taken in the beautiful cotswold hills, the day after boxing day - we were freezing cold, there was a heavy mist over the town so you couldn't see what is usually a beautiful view but it felt good to be out, the wind through our hair, away from the bustle and madness that Christmas has become, away from computers and work and stress and, well, stuff.

The last 12 months has been a real journey for me, I finally feel the pieces are slotting into place and I know which direction to go in. Whether I make it or not is up to me. So no more lists, my new year resolutions this year are simple. Work hard, enjoy my life and my family and try to keep organised and the house tidy along the way but I won't stress if I don't always manage it. I am not superwoman.