Friday, 29 January 2010

Bunnies, Mushrooms, Hearts and Trees

Well it is the end of another week, and the time in between my last post seems huge, how did time fly by so quickly!

I have been giving the birds a rest this week and have tried to focus more on illustration. I have found it to be pretty trying, once upon a time I felt nothing of picking up pencil, paint, paper and glue and following my instincts, but after training as a Graphic Designer, I'm a bit out of practice. My mind now works around, 'but why are you putting that there, what does it communicate', which I think is quite useful, but it does occasionally stop me from just going with the flow. The worst thing of all though, is desperately trying to teach myself to paint again, with the knowledge that there is no 'history', or cmd z button to help me out should it all go horribly wrong!

The first pieces this week are my bunnies, 'Bunny by Night' and 'Bunny by Day', a couple of mixed media pieces featuring a cheeky little bunny eating all the flowers. Not only was I trying to get back to my painting, but I decided to throw some fabric and sewing in the mix too, hey why not :)




I am also trying to decide what scoring board to buy, so I can crack on with some card making. Do I get a plastic one? Will it warp, bend, move around too easily? Do I get and MDF one? Will it be too bulky and heavy, will bits chip off it? Most important of all, where will I find it cheapest? Obviously I ended up stumbling across a manual mechanical one that I simply cant' afford - but I still want it!

One of my card ideas is similar to this, cup stains! A little cliche, but I thought it could be quite cute to use as a note to say 'hi' to someone you would like to meet up with, that you haven't seen in a while. I seem to have incorporated a bit of hand sewing into this too!





Finally I love to doodle! The only time I relax and stop worrying about making mistakes is when I doodle. I doodle lots of odd things, such as mushrooms...



...and decorative patterns, that usually include circles and spirals, I love circles and spiral, or any organic kind of shape really. I have been drawing by hand, and made one attempt at painting. I actually really enjoyed it, it was very theraputic, but it was here that I realised just how reliant I am on cmd z. I love working digitally, but it is definitely time to get back to your roots when you begin to rely on the computer too much.
I was really pleased with the results of my tree efforts. I removed the original outlines and was left with something quite fragile and organic.


My other efforts (and the mushroom) were filled with colour using Photoshop. I love to see how clean colour fills are corrupted by my sketchy lines, they are busy, bright, and a little bit chaotic and messy.
Well Life would be boring without a little chaos wouldn't it ?

I think on my next post I will take a little break from the 'me' show and take a gander at creative things other people are doing. I will probably start by meandering through my Misi wish list...




Friday, 22 January 2010

Uri & Friends

Well it is a truly miserable day outside, but all is well inside, as Uri my little bird friend, finally has some bird friends of his own.

I would like you to meet Ulrich,



and Una (yes we are going for the less conventional gender/colour combinations - controversial!).



They are hanging out doing bird things, twittering (amongst themselves, they don't know how to use a computer yet)...



...and formation standing (they can't actually fly either - poor things).


I can't wait to get my site up and running so I can pop them on, and hopefully find them kind bird loving homes!

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

Bits & Pieces


I have been busy with lots of bits and pieces over the last few days. Firstly I thought I should make some more friends for Uri, so I have a couple more birds to finish off either today or tomorrow, just need to decide what colours they should be?



I have also made an effort to get a small batch of beads created. These lentil beads are in the "Rachel" range, so called as my friend Rachel asked if she could have some jewellery, using red and white beads, as a wedding present. That was in August, and poor Rachel is still waiting, oops!



Finally, I have been trying to create lots of little patterns and characters from felt. I have a pile of felt left over from uni (I left uni over four years ago), and I have been trying to find a use for it for ages, hopefully now I can start working my way through it. I love these little guys, my hand sewing has never been a forte of mine, but I do love a bit of blanket stitch!

Monday, 11 January 2010

Useful Uri!

As well as ordering myself a much needed diary, and my boyfriend's birthday presents, I have been busy today experimenting with Uri. Uri is my unique little bird friend. He is hopefully the first in a flock of unique little bird friends. He took ages, he is heavier than expected (you could knock intruders out with him - very useful), and he is the strong silent type - he tweets less than I do :) I am not sure if I am to sell him in future, at the minute he still needs finishing, I will have to wait and see, I'm already growing far too attached.

Below you can see how Uri came to be...



A rough cage was created and then filled with foil, in the "hope" that Uri wouldn't be too heavy...


Then he was given his outer clay....


...and his decorative feathers!



Saturday, 9 January 2010

Braving the Cold!

Well today was my first day out of the house in three days. Boyfriend decided to dig the car out, and we ventured to Sainsburys. We came away largely unscathed and have enough food to last us the week. Will probably take more product photos tomorrow, and then pop some more items on Misi. In the meantime, my thoughts are preoccupied with making skeletal structures, such as this little bird guy. He will hopefully be built up and covered at some point, I'll post pictures of the progress.


Thursday, 7 January 2010

New Year, New blog

I am starting this year with a sense of excitement. I have my first items of jewellery listed in my shop on Misi, and I am brimming full of other ideas that I want to try. Unfortunately I am being somewhat hindered by the snow, as I need supplies! So instead I am catching up on forums, and picking up pencil and paper and doodling, something I really should do more of. Here are a couple from the other night, must have been having a Tim Burton moment. I have a little fat Edward, and a mildly creepy house! :)