Buttons...

I thought I'd just post a quick update on some new photos of my buttons. I have so many still to sort through! These ones will be added to my shop over the next few days. :)

Folksy shop!

Something I've been thinking about for a while now is whether it would be a good idea to open up a new online shop on a site like Folksy. I like Etsy and and am happy with my shop there, but I wonder if the fact it is only in US dollars might put some people off (even though Paypal handles currency conversions automatically).

This weekend I did some more research into Folksy. There seem to be pros and cons to Etsy and Folksy - Etsy is a bigger site with more members so more potential customers but it can be easy to get lost amongst all the other sellers. Folksy is smaller so although you are less likely to get lost there might not be so many customers. This was one thing I was concerned about - would there be enough people looking on Folksy to make it worth while listing? It seems that recently more people have been joining Folksy and they are coming out of beta testing at the end of the month. Also, although Folksy is limited to UK sellers only it does have a built in currency conversion for selling internationally. I think the forums could also be good on Folksy - more information relevent to UK sellers. So, I've decided to give it a go!

My new shop on Folksy is http://hazelfishercreations.folksy.com/ I will be selling prints and bookmarks at first and am in the process of stocking up the shop. Any other things like original ACEOs, magnets, crafting kits, vintage buttons etc will just be in my Etsy shop for now.

Has anyone else had experience with Folksy? It would be great to hear what you think! :)

Spring Flowers

The last few days have been sunny and warm - it makes me want to spend time outside in the garden and not at my desk. So it's not good for productivity but does make me happy! I thought I'd share a few photos of spring flowers in the sunshine... :)

Bookmarks

I've been making some new bookmarks featuring prints of my illustrations - they're so new that they aren't even in my shop yet! Here are a couple of photos:

The first bookmark features 3 different cats from my ACEOs

and this one features parts of my Hexley Diving Station, D.O.R.A. and Octopus illustrations.

The print size of each bookmark is approx. 2 x 6.5 inches (5x16.5cm). Both bookmarks are laminated and have tassels made from different textured fibres. Keep an eye out for these bookmarks and other appearing in my Etsy shop very soon! :)

Bergholt Heath YFC Fayre

I will be having a stall at the Bergholt Heath YFC 10th Anniversary Fayre today - so if you are in the area please come along! There will be a table top sale as well as other activities including bleep test, penalty shoot out, BBQ, tug of war... so let's hope the weather's good (it's quite grey outside at the moment).
The fayre is at the Orpen Hall, West Bergholt between 12-4pm.

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!

New ACEOs - No.26-31

It's been a while since I posted an update on my ACEOs so there are several new ones to add!

No.26 Rabbits

No.27 Ring tailed lemur

The next few were made after my trip to Colchester zoo and were based on the photos I took there.

No.28 Giraffe

No.29 Lion (I don't think his face is quite right - he reminds me of the stuffed animals at the Zoology museum more than a live lion!)
No.30 Tiger (I commented that when we go to the zoo the tiger is always hiding up so you can't see him, but soon after that he started walking all around the enclosure so I was able to get lots of photos - they might not be good enough to frame but I can still use them to draw from.)
No.31 Wolf

These original ACEOs are all for sale in my Etsy shop. :)

Another treasury feature!

Etsy's promoting European sellers at the moment and I've just found that I'm in another treasury! :D This time it is my Diving Station ACEO print in a treasury featuring European sellers chosen by DancingGirlArt. You can see the treasury in full here (it's up until 26th March).

It's always lovely to see my work featured in a treasury - it's nice to think that people like my work enough to include in their treasuries and it's great to discover other artists/ crafters through treasuries too!

Treasury feature

I've just noticed that my new tiger ACEO has been featured in an Etsy treasury :)

You can see the treasury in full here, it features work by European Etsy sellers on the theme of cats (the treasury expires on 24th March).

Colchester Zoo

Last Sunday I went to Colchester zoo, it was a great day out and I took lots of reference photos and did some sketches too for doing animal paintings from later. We had our first picnic of the year too! Spring has really started in the last week or so and it's great to be able to go outside without freezing! :D

Here are just a few of the photos I took:I was impressed with some of the changes the zoo has made since my last visit. There are more enclosures that you can walk into with the animals now - like the wallabies, and there are more opportunities to take photos of the animals without having to look through glass. The new orang utan house has been opened too - it's a much bigger enclosure, the only downside was that the orang utans seemed so popular this time it was hard to get close enough to see them well. On my last visit I stood drawing one of the orang utans for several minutes and he seemed quite interested in what I was doing. They seem so intelligent I'd love to be able to spend more time drawing them again next time!

I'm working on some animal paintings at the moment (they need to be finished this week for a local exhibition!) - so look out for some animal artwork soon :)

Pick of the week...

I have so much to catch up on here, but rather than one massive post I'll do it a bit at a time...

So here's this week's 'pick of the week'. A couple of weeks ago I had an exciting little package in the post from Su Mwamba of TangleCrafts.

Su had bought my Postbox ACEO a while ago and contacted me about her mini zine 'Going Postal' mail art project. She is collecting ATCs on a postal/ mail art theme and including them in mini zines. Anyone who contributes artwork will receive a free copy of the zine featuring their artwork and at least two others.

I was very pleased to receive my copy of the zine and it was lovely to receive some of her other little zines in the package too! I thought the handmade envelope they all came in was great as well - it really caught my attention before even opening the package! :)

To find out more about Tangle Crafts visit Su's Etsy shop or her blog.

The return of the internet and new ACEOs...

Don't you always find that you appreciate something more when you don't have it?

For half of last week I had no phone line and therefore no internet and it's really reminded me just how much I use the internet! It seemed that half of the village was cut off and the rumour was that it was because the copper cables connecting the village were stolen (again). I hope they catch these people - it's not just an inconvenience, some people who don't have mobile phones rely on the landlines and could need it in an emergency.

I probably got more work done without online distractions though and knowing that if would be off for a few days I could plan around it, but running an online business means that it's important to have the internet as I didn't want to disappoint any customers. At least it's back now! :D

Now that I'm back online there's a bit to catch up on, so here are a couple of new ACEOs:

No. 24 Welsh landscape (pencil, watercolours and acrylics)

No.25 Swans (pencil, watercolours, acrylics)