Prickly things

As part of my Mexican project I've been playing about with patterns and typography inspired by cacti (although my housemate tells me these are more like little wriggly caterpillars!).

I really like this pattern and "Prick" typography, so I've made them available in my Society6 Store.

An exciting Adventure Time announcement!

Those of you who follow me on instagram probably saw this yesterday, but I am so excited I had to share it with my blog readers too!

A while ago I was asked to contribute to an upcoming Adventure Time Crafts book for Cartoon Network, and the book comes out next Tuesday! Today I got my preview of the book and I am SO excited to share it with you.

There are tons of amazing tutorials by some awesome crafters; The Slivered Blade, Chalkboard Nails, Yummy Pancake and the book itself is created by Chelsea from Love & a Sandwich.
My particular tutorial is for painting your own Treetrunks shoes!

The book is available for preorder on Amazon now, but it's officially out on October 7th.

Chelsea has already posted a free tutorial from the book to make some awesome Adventure Time Finger puppets. Check it out here.

Rainbow Pinata Cross Stitch Pattern

As you probably saw in Sunday's blog post, my newest craft addiction is cross stitch. I initially started is as part of my uni project, but I think I'm going to continue with it. It's been a much more relaxing way to stay occupied on long tube journeys than playing angry birds and pet rescue saga!

Besides a few little cacti, this Rainbow Pinata is the first proper cross stitch project I've done in years. It's inspired by my Mexican Project and the adorable Adventure Time pinata Manfried.

Here's the pattern for anyone wanting to stitch this!

Picture Catch Up #1

Over the past few weeks I've been frantically crafting and sewing ready for the start of term on Monday. This project is based on Mexico so I've been drawing inspiration from Mexican parties, plants, artists, food and crafts so I've been doing lots of colourful embroidery and applique as well as lots of illustration and pattern ideas.

Here's some pictures from my sketch book work, I'll be posting a pattern for my Pinata cross stitch later in the week.

Don't forget to enter my Kelsea Echo Giveaway for your chance to win a $40 gift card for her shop!

Kelsea Echo $40 Giveaway!

I mentioned in my last post that I had an awesome giveaway for you this week! This one is from one of my fav bloggers and Etsians; Kelsea Echo. Not only is Kelsea super stylish and has a kick ass blog, but she's recently opened up a new Etsy shop dedicated to cute and colourful kawaii jewelry.

The lucky winner of this giveaway gets $40 store credit in Kelsea's shop.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A quick update and a charitable giveaway!

Hi guys, just thought I'd write a quick update! I've been busy doing lots of uni work and working on some new card/bag/cushion/mug designs that I will release soon! So unfortunately my poor blog has been neglected for a few days.

I'll be back next week with a fantastic giveaway from one of my fav bloggers/Etsy sellers.

In the mean time I wanted to make you aware of another fantastic giveaway hosted by the talented Etsian Monkeyshine.  Entering this giveaway not only gives you a chance to win fantastic brooches and hand made baskets by Monkeyshine, but also the opportunity to help out some suffering animals in great need.

Read more about the giveaway and the plight of these poor animals here. Any shares of Monkeyshines giveaway will be greatly appreciated! 

Etsy Love - Labradors!

One of my readers, Amber, suggested Labradors for this weeks Dog Etsy Love. She pointed out that big dogs don't seem to get so much love on blog posts like this, so as a big dog lover I'm making an effort to include more gorgeous gentle giants in this feature!

Labs are actually one of my fav breeds, I've known some amazingly loyal and lovable labs in the past. Although there weren't so many cutesy, bright Labrador items on Etsy, there were some absolutely beautifully made crafts! So for once I'm doing a neutral colour schemed post to showcase a few of these beautiful Lab themed items.

1. Northfield Primitives / 2. Kat Spreadbury Designs / 3. Napkin Items / 4. Quintessential Hostess / 

5. SHP Designs UK / 6. The Magic Zoo / 7. Little Shop of Clays / 8. What a Novel Idea / 9. Deborah Mix

Etsy Love - Cute Corgis!

I love corgis, they have such cute little lets and big smiley faces and they look so friendly and cuddly. Someone send me an adorable corgi to snuggle right now please??

This Dog Etsy Love post was really hard to do, there are so many quality corgi items on Etsy to choose from. The dog breed this week was suggested by Sam from The Bees Knees. Feel free to suggest your fav breed in the comments below!

1. Miss S Designs / 2. Idamarysl / 3. Mama Runs With Scissors / 4. Back to Zero / 5. Nice Mice For You / 

6. Cuore / 7. Mochas Friends / 8. Kathryn Mcelroy / 9. Ayu Tomikawa Art

Desk of the Day - A family of Matryoshka

This desk of the day was from July but I didn't want to post it then as they were for an anniversary in August.

This will be my last set of Russian Dolls (for a long time anyway). It's been such a fun order to end on, probably one of my favourites. It's always really special when I'm asked to make/paint something that will be a gift for someone.

I'll be sharing the final pictures next week!

Etsy Love - German Shepherds

It's much harder to find colourful, cutesy items for bigger dog breeds on Etsy, but I think I managed to find some pretty adorable German Shepherd themed items.

This weeks Dog Etsy Love theme was suggested by Jessica from The Pyreflies who has a soft spot for German Shepherds. Feel free to suggest your fav dog breed in the comments :)

I have so many fond memories of German Shepherds, my childhood friend had one who was the sweetest and gentlest family dog. I love these big fluffy softies.

1. Eppy / 2. SHP Designs UK / 3. My Wall Stickers / 4. Wandering Fables / 5. Animal Heart Pendants / 

6. Elle Furch Decor / 7. SC Artworks / 8. Paula Lukey Design / 9. Elleo Dolls

Adventure Time Vans OTW

Remember these Vans from a while back? Well here are the finished ones! Adventure Time will always be one of my favourite subjects to paint, but painting them on some awesome Vans OTW makes it even more fun.

More of my shoes // More Adventure Time Posts // More Adventure Time Shoes

Etsy Love - Ovaries Before Brovaries

This Etsy Love post is inspired by my newest TV show obsession, Parks and Recreation. I know I'm really late at discovering this show, as I always am with shows! But the great thing about discovering things late is you can binge watch them and not leave the house for a week. I'm up to season 5 and getting a little blue about only have one season left to watch so I turned to Etsy for some good old window shopping. It seems that Parks and Recreation has inspired loads of creative and awesome fan art!

Here are my top 9 Parks and Rec themed items on Etsy:

1. Team Art  / 2. Turtles Soup / 3. Kates Little Store / 4. Brain Dump Tees / 5. Urban Prey / 6. Grain and Dot / 

7. Jesiiii / 8. Sleepy Mountain / 9.  Peachy Apricot

P.S, Is anyone else completely in love with Ron Swanson?

Beautiful Ukuleles from Chopstitch

Today I wanted to share with you kick ass work by my sister-from-another-mister, Ginge (Chopstitch). Ginge had recently started painting ukuleles, and they're pretty freaking awesome. If you don't already own an Adventure Time ukulele you should probably get one and learn the Adventure Time theme on it right now.

Ginge sells more of her happy creations on her Etsy shop Chopstitch. You can email her at chopstitchcrafts@gmail.com for all custom ukuklele orders and enquiries.

 

You can follow Ginge's cute creative works on her:

Facebook // Twitter // Instagram

And don't forget to check out her blog Cosmos and Crayons to keep up to date on the Adventures of Ginge and Sloth on their scientific journey through space.

Etsy Love - Poodles!

This week's Dog Etsy Love theme was suggested by one of my lovely readers, Mel. Feel free to suggest your fav breed of dog for another Dog Etsy Love post.

I know I've done a poodle themed Etsy Love post in the past, but it has been far too long and there are so many beautiful poodle products on Etsy that I figured I can justify another! Plus, poodles are my favourite breed since I'm lucky enough to have a bouncy, beautiful and downright crazy standard poodle.

1. Napkin Items / 2. didyoumakeityourself / 3. Tiny Bling / 4. JLR / 5. Miss Sarah Belle / 6. Name That Cookie / 

7. Alice's Vintage Wonder / 8. Watercolor Book / 9. Phoenix Crafts

Back to regular posting!

I have just moved house and been without internet for what seems like a year (realistically, it's probably only been about two weeks). But I'm finally back on the internet and can catch up on some of my fav blogs and Etsy shops!

I've had a busy few weeks which included; a trip back to my mum's to see my animals and my fav notherners, lots of comedy, fun and friends at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, then returning to London to move house!

We have moved to West London after living in East London for a year, and so far this new house feels so much more like home than the last two! We have a big garden so I'm looking forward to planting some fruit and veg for next year.

Here are some pics from the past couple of weeks:

P.S: how awesome are these pencil socks from topman

Etsy Love - Pugs!

Continuing with my Dog Etsy Love series, here's an adorable pug themed Etsy treasury! I was spoiled for choice with so many amazing pug themed items on Etsy, but here are some of my absolute favs.

1. Ladybird Likes / 2. Yeah Bunny / 3. Kaeselotti / 4. Charm Amulet / 5. Tache Crafts / 6. Napkinitems / 

7. Maustudio / 8. Kiwihen / 9. Appendage Accessories

Do you have a fav breed of dog? Let me know in the comments and I might make an Etsy post about that breed :)

Lovely gifts from Deedeetantan and CocoMilla

Over the past couple of weeks I've been lucky enough to receive some fantastic pressies from two of my favourite Etsians, Deedeetantan and CocoMilla. You may remember their work from my Totoro Etsy Love post. The prints they sent me were so adorable, I just had to show you guys! Now I have lots of beautiful artwork to liven up the walls of my new house.

Here are some of my favs from their Etsy shops:

Deedeetantan

CocoMilla 

Etsy Love - Chihuahuas!

I guess this post could fit in with both my Mexico and Dog themed Etsy Love series. This post was inspired by a tiny adorable Chihuahua that I saw a few days ago. It was smaller than a kitten and bounced along happily chasing a tiny twig.

1. Wintercroft / 2. Dog Motive Art / 3. Poutine Press / 4. Sophie Parker / 5. WOWCHNYC / 

6. Senor Picklesworth / 7. Name that Cookie/ 8. Hello Nutcase / 9. Little Paper Forest

Desk of the Day - Adventure Time Vans OTW

I've been working on these shoes for a little while now, and I'm really enjoying working on them. They're one of my favourite themes - Adventure Time! And I've included a load of characters that I don't usually get to paint on shoes... Cinnamon Bun has been one of my favs to paint.

Can you guess which characters all of these are?

More of my shoes // More Adventure Time

Etsy Love - French Bulldogs

French Bulldogs are one of my favourite breeds, they're such chunky little cuties. So naturally I'm including them in my Dog Etsy Love series.

Let me know your favourite dog breed and I'll dedicate an Etsy Love to them!

1. Case Cavern / 2. Diablo Jos / 3. Watercolor Book / 4. Ginger Pickle / 5. Flowerland Shop / 6. Kudzu Monster / 7. Pretty In Ink Jewellery / 8. Seabreeze Studio / 9. Senor Picklesworth

Desk of the Day - Flowers and Kisses

I often get emails asking me to do Las Vegas themed wedding shoes. But this has been one of my fav Las Vegas themed orders. The bride wanted a bright colour scheme with kisses, cards and dice, so I opted for baby blue with magenta, hot pink and bright orange for the colours.

I can't wait to show you the finished shoes!

Etsy Love - Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo is one of my favourite artists, her creativity and use of colour and imagery has always inspired me. So following on from my previous Mexico inspired post, here's a Frida Kahlo inspired Etsy treasury! If you haven't heard of Frida you can learn more about her here, she had such an interesting life and was an inspiring woman!

1. Sketch Inc / 2. Rougepony / 3. GGs Pin Up Couture / 4. Kilkenny Cat Art / 5. Andsmile / 6. CaraCarmina / 

7. MiZen Designs / 8. Object Apparel / 9. JaneFoster

Finally on Society6

I finally got myself a Society6 account! You can check out my shop here. So far I mostly have the Maneki Neko Meme series up but I'll be adding more over the next few weeks. You can also get Maneki Neko greetings cards on my Etsy Shop.

Here are a few of the items you can get on my new Society6 shop:

Etsy Love - Sausage Dogs

It's no secret I'm a crazy dog lady, and Etsy is full of amazing dog themed art and crafts! So I'm aiming to do a series of dog themed Etsy Love posts.

Feel free to suggest some dog breeds! This week is dedicated to Daschunds, or "Sausage dogs".

1. Made by Monkey Shine / 2. Teva Nova / 3. Yvonne Ellen / 4. 2 Little Flowers / 5. Funky Forest Home / 

6. Jane Foster / 7. Yaci / 8. Stacie Swift / 9. Benu Shop

Desk of the Day - Can you guess who it is?

Today I'm working on a little portrait of one of my favourite artists. Can you guess who it's going to be?

Etsy Love - Prickly Plants

I recently went to the Made in Mexico exhibition at The Fashion and Textile museum in London. It was a small, beautifully curated exhibition that immediately got me inspired for my latest uni project. I think I'm going to team together Mexican imagery with modern illustrative styles, so prepare for lots of Mexican inspired posts!

Here's the first one, it's cactus themed!

1. LittlePeanutThreads / 2. JordanSondler / 3. SimkaSol / 4. Land of Pines / 5. MarinaFINI / 6. Insoulblue / 

7. Nice Hot Cuppa / 8. CushBarcelona / 9. Vivie and Ash