What’s new in my shop? – Update on lots of new printable designs!

I have been designing so many new things recently that I thought it was time for an update, so here are some of the new things I have been adding to my shop…

There are several new sets of printable gift boxes.  Each of the box designs comes as high resolution 300dpi file on a ready to print sheet measuring 8.5 x 11 inches (A4). The completed boxes measure approximately 2.5 x 3.5 x 2 inches (6.5 x 9 x 5cm).  New designs include nautical patterns, London soldiers and buses, aqua chevrons and pink flowers…

I have also been drawing new digital stamps which can be printed and coloured in to use in craft projects like card making and scrapbooking.  The new digital stamps sets include different hand drawn frames, cupcakes, London motifs and woodland animals…

I have been adding to the Nautical themed party printables with some new birthday bunting and an invitation…

Recently, I worked on a design for a photo birth announcement with a London theme for a customer.  It was a pleasure to do, so I decided to create some more designs for photo birth announcements.  Similar to the invitations already in my shop, they come ready personalised with the customer’s choice of text and are sent as digital files for printing as many times as required.  They are also personalised with a photo which I can edit as needed, I can also alter the photo to be sepia or black and white.  The circles pattern design below is shown in ‘Olive’ colour scheme but can be made in other colour schemes too.  The woodland design with the owl is available with a choice 4 different coloured owls.

To see all the my printable designs, past and new, please visit my shop… www.hfcSupplies.etsy.com

Sneak peek at the start of a new range of cards

I'm currently working on a new range of greeting cards.  It's something that I've been planning for a while and now I have a new supply of card stock they are actually starting to come to life!  Here is one of my new designs...

Before my card designs have been printed by Moo and although I love the quality of their cards I have decided to start printing cards myself.  There are a few reasons for this change; it means that I can print on different sized card, different types of card (the card photographed is on lovely linen textured card) and I will be able to print customised cards.

The first sets of cards will be ready very soon - so keep an eye out for those appearing on the blog and my shops!



Cupcakes and Roses

Last week I shared a sneak peak of my latest project so I thought I'd post an update...

I have been designing backing papers and motifs for a new cardmaking kit with a cupcakes and roses theme.  Each design starts as a hand drawn image - made from a combination of pen, watercolour pencils and watercolour paint.  I scanned these and finished them digitally...

The papers are all designed now and I am finalising the other elements to the kit; card blanks and embellishments.  I'm really pleased with how this kit is going and looking forward to when it's all finished and ready to list in my shop! :)

Hexley Transportation Centre - Vehicular Compendium

The Hexley transportation illustrations have had a make-over (and a couple of new additions too)! I liked the way the background turned out for my newest Clockwork Bird illustration, so added a similar 'aged' background to the transporation illustrations as well as a new title; 'Hexley Transportation Centre - Vehicular Compendium'.

Here are the updated versions of the Solo Dirigible Balloon, Land Strider and Steam Omni Carriage No.9...

And these are the new additions...

Steam Carriage No.3 - perfect for getting about town this carriage seats two people and has a storage compartment in the bonnet!

Balloon Carriage No.5 - this two seater carriage is ideal for exploring the countryside as with the larger tyres and balloon it can easily traverse most terrain!

It's great fun imagining vehicles for Hexley and to draw them too - I hope you like them!

These illustrations will all be appearing as 5x7 prints in my Etsy shop very soon. I also plan to make them available as 8x10 prints and greeting cards.

Manningtree High Street - new work

Since I've been having a go at a few different things recently I thought it was time I did some more drawings/ paintings of buildings. It's a subject I enjoy working on and I'm generally quite pleased with the results.

So I've been looking through my collection of photos for inspiration and decided to start with a painting of Manningtree. This was drawn in dip pen and peat brown ink, then painted in watercolours and Quink.

Manningtree is England's smallest town, located on the banks of the River Stour at the Essex/ Suffolk border. It is also a place which has provided me with a lot of inspiration for my drawings of Hexley street scenes!

I'm planning on making some more paintings on a similar theme - so keep an eye out for those. I expect there will be more old buildings as I much prefer drawing those to newer ones. Old buildings always seem so fascinating to me - much more character and I can't help but wonder about the people who used to live there and what the buildings have 'seen' over the centuries.

By the way, if you like this painting it is now available in my Etsy shop as a 5x7 print (if you would like another size please let me know). :)

New Work - Greeting Card designs

I haven't uploaded much new work recently but I have been working hard on some new greeting card designs. Here are just a few of my new illustrations (more can be seen on my website):

The designs are all painted in watercolours, I have also used a combination of pen, ink, acrylics and coloured pencils. I really enjoyed making these, it was a great opportunity to try some different ideas and experiment with making patterns.

Manningtree Easter Art Exhibition

This is the second year I have entered the Manningtree Easter Art Exhibition. The paintings were all delivered on Saturday - very exciting! Here are some photos of the work which will be on show:

'At the Auction' - pen and watercolour, based on several sketchs and a couple of photographs taken on my visits to the auction in Colchester. I've even put myself in the painting - sitting drawing at the back!

'Hexley Pier' - a new Hexley painting in pencil, watercolours and acrylics. The pier at Hexley is the perfect place for a walk on a nice sunny day - and if you are lucky you might spot one of the research vessels like D.O.R.A. in the distance! (Prints of this painting are now available in my Etsy shop.)
'The Zoo' - this group of small paintings in pencil, watercolours and acrylics was based on my photos taken at Colchester zoo.

The exhibition starts tomorrow at the Methodist Church, South Street, Manningtree. Opening times are:

Wednesday 31st March 2-6pm

Thursday 1st April 2-5pm

Friday 2nd April 2-5pm

Saturday 3rd April 10am-5pm

Sunday 4th April 2-5pm

Monday 5th April 10am-4pm

(There will be hundreds are pictures on all subjects and all works are for sale)

So if you are in the area please do go along!

ACEO 365 - No.17 - 23

Here's an update on more of my recent ACEOs :)

No.17 - Border Collie dog in pencil and watercolour (Sold)

No.18 - Arthur Brown, a resident of Hexley, works at the Climatology Centre and sits on the Town Council. Drawn in pencil and painted in watercolours and acrylics.

No.19 - Chimp in watercolours and Quink with dip pen/ ink line work.

No.20 - Squirrel drawn in pencil and painted in acrylics.

No.21 - British landscape in pencil, watercolours and acrylics (Sold)

No.22 - Hexley pier, pencil, watercolours and acrylics (I'm planning on painting a larger version of the Hexley pier too)

And finally No.23 - Emperor penguins; pen, watercolour and acrylics (Sold)

These ACEOs (unless marked as sold) are for sale in my Etsy shop. I will be listing prints of the penguins and squirrel but if there are any of my ACEOs you would like prints of which aren't listed in my shop please let me know!

The next ACEOs I'm starting are of a swan and another landscape. I always like receiving your comments/ feedback :) - what are your favourite ACEOs or is there anything you think would make a great subject which I haven't done yet??

What's new?

It's been a while since I last posted here so there are a few things to catch up on.

Firstly; the free advertising space on Craft Count. My advert was on the site for about a week (longer than the 3 days I was expecting) and from Google analytics I can see that it led to some extra views in my Etsy shop. This was only 2, 3 or 4 extra views a day though and I don't know of any sales I had from that, although some of those views may turn into sales in the future.

As the Craft Count site is still new that probably affected the number of views I had. So my conclusion is that although it didn't lead to any sales now it was free, so worth a try, and I wouldn't rule out trying fee charging advertising on this, or a similar site, in the future when a more established site could lead to better views and hopefully sales.

I also wanted to share more of my recent ACEOs from the series of 365 ACEOs for the year - which I am quite behind on already :( Maybe 365 was a little ambitious!?

No.8 - An ink (Quink) drawing of the Invisible Man based on a project I did a while ago. This has sold already, but I might do some more on a similar theme. I like how black Quink, when mixed with water, splits into different colours from blues to yellows -it reminds me of the chromatography we did it chemistry lessons at school :)

No.9 - 13 are all kaleidometric patterns (patterns made from circles). When I was about 8 or so I was given a book about these patterns and have enjoyed making them off and on ever since. They are quite time consuming to make - each starts by drawing a pencil grid: drawing a circle with a compass and dividing that circle with other circles and lines. Then the patterns you see here are made by drawing shapes and lines based on, but not restricted to, the grid.

These are all mixed media pieces and I have used them to experiment with acyrlics (which I haven't used much for a long time), watercolours, different pens and ink.

These kaleidometric ACEOs and other ACEOs are for sale in my Etsy shop. :)

I haven't forgotten about my buttons either - they just take a long time to sort but I'm hoping I can post more on them very soon!