Quote of the week...

Oh dear, I haven't posted a quote of the week since 8th September! Well to make up for it here are two quotes on the theme of stars...

The stars are majestic laboratories, gigantic crucibles, such as no chemist could dream. - Henri Poincare

Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship. - General Omar Bradley

Back to work...

I've been a bit behind in making and listing new things for my Etsy shop over the last week or so. We have been having some building work done on our house and it's a little hard to concentrate with constant banging and mess! The builders have nearly finished though and I have tidied my desk and work room so it's much easier to work now. :D

On the weekend I booked a table at a local Autumn Fayre and Bazaar, it's in November so there is lots to prepare for that! I have lots of ideas I can't wait to get on with - including a craving for doing some sewing - but that may have to wait a few more days.

My first priority is to photograph and list some new items in my Etsy shop. So far I have listed some new magnets...

The top set are covered in three different fabrics from my collection and the bottom set feature transfer prints of three of my illustrations on a plain white fabric. Each hand covered fabric magnet measures approx. 1.2inches (3cm, the magnet on the back measures 0.6 inches (1.5cm). The magnets are quite strong and will hold several pieces of paper. I'm planning on adding a wider range of magnets to my Etsy shop very soon!

Winner of the ACEO giveaway!!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter my first giveaway! :) It was great to find out what everyone's favourite ACEOs were and very interesting to see how varied they were.

The winning entry was chosen at random and the winner was .................... bison61!!

Congratulations! You will be receiving an ACEO sized print of my Diving Station illustration very soon.

As a special thank you to everyone else who entered but did not win I will be sending you a discount code for 10% off your next order from my Etsy shop. If you do not receive the code but entered the giveaway please let me know!

We are Sailing...

I've been waiting for a treasury slot since posting my last 'Quote of the Week' and got one last night! I didn't think that I would because I was expecting the next slot to be open in the middle of the night and I wasn't going to stay up late just for a treasury!!

Inspired by John Masefield's 'Sea Fever' poem I chose items with a sea/ sailing theme. Here is a screen shot of my treasury:

You can see the treasury in full here on Etsy.

My first giveaway - Win an ACEO print!!!

I am very excited to announce that I am running my first giveaway on my blog!!
One lucky winner will win one of my ACEO prints... For anyone who has not come across ACEOs before:
ACEO stands for 'Art Cards, Editions and Originals', they all measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches - the size of a trading card. I discovered them a little over a year ago and have found them really fun to make. They are great for collecting in albums or can be framed to hang on the wall!

Most of my ACEOs are painted in watercolours, I also use Quink (ink), pen, and pencil. My ACEO prints are all printed on HP premium plus photo paper with HP inks on the best quality setting for a bright glossy print. They are hand signed and titled on the back and also numbered if they are from a limited edition.

My ACEO prints fall into two main categories; animals and Hexley based ones.
How to enter the giveaway:
All you need to do to enter is take a look at the ACEO prints in my Etsy shop, choose your favourite and post a comment here telling me the title of your favourite print. Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you if you win!! If you are the winner you will win a copy of your favourite print. (Worldwide entries are welcome!!)

You can have up to two extra entries into the draw:
One for following my blog
One for blogging/ tweeting etc about my giveaway and linking back to my blog.

To be given the extra entries please just include a note in your entry comment, something like "I am now following your blog and have blogged about your giveaway at www...."

A winner will be selected at random on Monday 21st September at 8pm (London time!). I will contact the winner within 24 hours and post who the winner is here.

Good luck everyone!! :)

The People of Hexley - Kate Alston

I've finally finished the second illustration in my 'People of Hexley' series! Kate Alston, like Elizabeth Bridges, has been drawn in dip pen and ink then painted with watercolours.

Born in Hexley, Kate Alston has lived in the area her whole life. Following in her father's foosteps, she works at the Transportation Centre - one of Hexley's six main outer settlements. The balloon carriages are her speciality but with a natural talent for all things mechanical she can work on any of the town's modes of transport and have them fixed in no time!

This illustration of Kate Alston, along with my other Hexley illustrations, is available to buy as a print in my Etsy shop.

Quote of the week...

This week the quote is actually from the poem 'Sea Fever';

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.
And the wheel's kick and the wind's sing and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking. - John Masefield

There's no particular reason why I chose this for 'quote of the week' other than I like the poem! I'm thinking that my next Etsy treasury may have a sea theme... :)

Puzzle Pieces...

I recently listed some new crafting supplies kits on Etsy, including a Christmas Bags of Ideas kit. As my Bags of Ideas kits contain a few puzzle pieces I thought it would be a good time to share some of my ideas for what to do with them!

I'm mainly going to show you how I paint and decorate the puzzle pieces...

I like to use acrylic paint as a base - it doesn't take too long to dry and covers the picture quite well, you can paint on either side of the puzzle piece. Depending on how thick/ thin your paint is you may need to paint more than one coat.

On this puzzle piece I have painted a coat of brown acrylic paint, left it to dry and then used Anita's 3D Dimensional Paint in metallic bronze.If you use the 3D paint fairly thickly you can use it like a glue and drop little beads and sequins into it. Alternatively, I have used PVA glue (which dries clear) to stick beads, sequins, glitter and even tiny cogs to the puzzle pieces. (I include some beads and sequins in my Bags of Ideas kits.)Another way of decorating the puzzle pieces is to glue a patterned piece of paper to the puzzle piece (using PVA glue). Then using a craft knife carefully cut around the puzzle piece. This is quite tricky - I recommend a sharp knife and a bit of patience!!

Some of my favourite pieces are the ones with beads in a variety of shapes/ sizes and colours... Before you do anything else with the pieces make sure they are completely dry!

I want to use some for jewellery, so I have varnished the back and edges then wrapped them in wire. I have also used some on greetings cards by turning the pieces into little presents (top right). Glue the puzzle piece to a piece of card just big enough to fit the piece on, then wrap wire around it to look like a ribbon and bow around a present. Use double sided tape/ PVA glue to stick it to a greetings card.

I hope this has given you a few ideas! It would be great to hear any other ideas you have too :)