SallyWag

Caroline from Chain of Daisies took a pic of the Red Riding Hood print she bought from me. She has a self-imposed Picture-a-Day policy on Flickr. I’m glad someone can photograph my stuff with skill. I certainly can’t!  You can see more of her accomplished camera-work here. You can visit her jewellery shop here. And you can buy my Red Red Hood mini-print here (UK); here Europe; here the World, an equally cute £4.

I’m going to attempt a weekly blog post, picking my 3 current favourite design wants: That which I can afford (Sale!) , that I can kid myself I can afford (Stretch!), and that which I can just daydream about (So far off!).  So here goes:

SO FAR OFF!: a Madeleine Boulesteix chandelier. http://www.madeleineboulesteix.co.uk. Prices on request:

STRETCH!: Topshop Unique leather and demin biker jacker.  £150. www.topshop.com:

SALE!: Lush Design’s new Fox and Cubs mug in bone china (to match my Lush ‘Foxy’ lampshade). £15. www.lushlampshades.co.uk:

Before Christmas I did a craft trade with thelovely Caroline Sale. She wanted a Poppy Canvas; I wanted some Christmas decorations and hair pins. Simple as, the swap was done. We both benefitted (well, i certainly felt I did!). Caroline makes some reet decadent jewellery and accessories for her shop Chain of Daisies, as well as the most wonderful PROPER Christmas decorations through her Chain of Snow Daisies brand, meticulously hand made, traditional and nostalgic, yet obviously contemporary. Oh, and she also takes some bloody good photos – frequently of her (understandably) beloved chickens – and her flickr photostreams are definitely worth checking out.

Anybody else fancy proposing a swap??? I could post up some of my stuff for the offering…

I’ve got a new set of seasonally inspired cards out on etsy, dawanda and folksy – with free worldwide shipping – printed at Moo. They’ll be more sets to follow – more miniature scenes, more shapes. I’ve realised I’m obsessed with scenes: different vistas, different homes, a safe and happy spot. I don’t really have a home myself. Maybe that’s part of it.

I’ll be at ‘100% handmade’ in March. Vintage tea party. cakes. coffee. bunting. music… oh, and lots of talented people ‘doing it for themselves’. lovely town too. wild moors, wide river, elegant promenades.

Perhaps followed by the Cupcake Challenge at Mojos, discovered courtesy of Ruthie Macall… Sam and Sally, who run the fairs, have also started a designer-maker event called 100% Handmade. There’s going to be another in the pretty tourist town of Ilkley on March 20th. The last one was fab. Vintage style tea and cakes, music bunting and plenty of people: like something straight of out Darling Buds in May!

Yo! Just uploaded some new digital prints on to etsy, folksy and dawanda (thank you Google Translate!). I was beginning to think about Spring, hence the Lowland windmill and tulips (by way of that nursery song about the mouse living in a windmill in old Amsterdam. he is not wearing the clogs because he’s letting them air, in case that was bothering you…). Of course, its started snowing again so i may be thinking about Spring but everyone else is thinking about how they’re gonna get there car out for work tomorrow. I thought some lurid retro colours for the farm cottage print. Anyway, I want to start on some darker subject matter soon… hmm

apparently some of my illustrative stationery designs (which I don’t think I can show you) are now at the New York International Gift Fair, which is very exciting and a first for me. I’ve never been to New York but my digital creations have. Lucky virtual bastards.

I was contacted by Amy Knowles of Barnsley Civic Gallery about being a stallholder at the new LOVE CRAFT fair. If you’re interested in a table contact email amyelizabethknowles@gmail.com or phone the Civic on 01226 327011, no later than Valentine’s Day. The tables are FREE! (“all we ask is that your work is completely handmade or your own design, high quality and presented in a visually exciting way”).

LOVE CRAFT: Saturday March 20th

I’ve just finished a mini-print design based on Little Red Riding Hood. I’m going to do a larger, darker, more complex version to include the wolf, his face hovering over the woods like a malevolent god!  Actually I quite like wolves… Anyway, I’ve two versions, one in traditional colourways – red coat! green trees! – and another ‘alternative’. Alright, so its an old European fairy tale, but does she always have to be white? And that cape: would it be less iconic (sexual in undertone) in blue? hmm. As for the woodcutter: who needs him?!

alternative bedtime story: http://danny.oz.au/danny/humour/lrrh

my prints: available on etsy, folksy and dawanda