Etsy shop now live!!

I have been slowly working on this over the past couple of weeks to get it up to scratch and ready to open! 

All items are hand made by me, each charm is completely original and unique :)

Click here and please share!

Tigerprint Competition

I spent the last few weeks working on a collection of surface pattern for Tigerprints "Colour" competition. I had to predict colour trends for Spring/Summer 2014 and create our own patterns that could be applied to a wide range of surfaces!

I was inspired by space and galaxy prints based on the fact that Fayes comet will be passing by in May next year. I really enjoyed making a mood board to submit and playing around with colour palettes.

Here are my 4 final pattern designs:

Pretty pleased with them since this is the first time I have done a project like this, my brain started to melt a little last week after spending 3 full days staring at a screen full of pattern on Photoshop!

I also mocked up a few things to show how they would look on different surfaces :)

Please let me know your opinions on these, am trying to get as much feedback as possible to improve what I am doing in my final major project :)

Give Up Your Day Job

Last thursday I took part in "Palentines Day" an event organised by the Give Up Your Day Job team who host alternative craft fairs in Jack Chams bar in Plymouth. 

We were given the stage area to sell our wares, I went along with fellow students Sophia Viney, Jess Stewart Croker, Beth Bains and  Abby Regler. Do check out their blogs for lovely illustrations! 

As we had the stage, we got to look over everyone, and we also had an area behind our stall with sofas which was pretty awesome :)

There were a lot of alternative valentines cards, zines, mix tapes to be swapped, free stickers and lots of cake!

I also met Dulcie Houghton who makes these beautiful steampunk plugs along with cards and jewellery. I was admiring these a lot even though I dont have particularly want to stretch my ears they are super beautiful :)

Lize Meddings one of the organisers designed the poster and was also there selling risograph prints, comics and giving out free Palentines Day mix cds! 

I always find it really hard not to buy things at these events-everyone has such amazing things that you know you won't find anywhere else its easy to buy lots... In the end I bought a vintage bag and melted vinyl record bowl from Parisian Sweets Vintage, a zine and poster from Lize and one of Abby's amazing icecream cone cakes! Hoping they do one again soon :)

Annarack Artist Feature

Hey, so this is going to be my second artist feature. This weeks shows the work of illustrator, textile and jewellery designer Annarack. She designs some beautifully patterned jewellery which you can buy here.

1-tell me a bit about your practise, what you make and how you go about making it?

Hello I'm Anna aka Annarack, an illustrator, textile and jewellery maker from Newcastle upon Tyne. I have quite an eccentric style as I love to use pattern and lots of colour throughout my drawings. My work starts from creating lots of little doodles and in the case of my jewellery I make lots of prototypes to try out different sizes, shapes and colour ways. If I'm confident enough sometimes I go straight into making final pieces.

2-what do you do to get inspired?

I get inspired by so much, mainly from very simple things I see around me. Going for days out and simply having a nice walk to refresh my mind gets me buzzing with ideas. I am also very influenced by many illustrators and try to keep within the trends. 

3-where do you work best and why that place?

I work in my bedroom. Its so cosy and there's everything to hand so it makes sense to work in it. There is so much in my room that it inspires me everyday. Anyone who has seen my room says it is amazing and like some sort of antique and curiosity shop. I have pile upon pile of antiquarian books and old maps, in fact every where you look in my room there is a map to be seen. I also collect compasses so I can find my way around my room.

4-what media do you prefer and why?

My illustrations are all entirely hand drawn, then scanned and enhanced in photoshop. I wish I knew how to use photoshop and illustrator properly so I could digitally colour my drawings. Computers frustrate me so I think I will stick to drawing everything by hand for the time being.

5-if you could choose one thing to draw for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Ooooooh now that is a hard one to think of...hmmm...to be honest I don't think I could possibly answer that question I like far too many things haha.

6-any advice to other aspiring artists?

Be positive and love what you do, cause if you don't no-one else will.