Tuesday 25 January 2011

I want to draw!

But instead I'm taking photos, and editing descriptions and adding new items and creating discounts (and forgetting to have lunch while I do it! The tummy-rumbling is getting out of hand!). Sometimes doing this for a living feels like no fun at all! Tonight I am promising myself at least an hour at the drawing board as a reward.

Saturday 22 January 2011

telling stories - a bookish giveaway

Oh dear, I'm afraid it's true, I have to confess I have an Etsy addiction. Under the thin guise of setting up my shop I've also been connecting with some super talented people and having mucho fun in the process. It's completely, totally, utterly addictive! Aside from the ongoing tinkering with my own bits and pieces, there's the compulsion to search out all the cool stuff available (and there's lots of it!). To prove my point, there's an ongoing bookish giveaway here, but even if you don't fancy winning a print (an A4 giclee of the Slugs and Snails drawing) or perhaps don't consider yourself a rampant reader, it's still totally worth popping over just to check out the some of the fab items my fellow Etsians have up for sale (I myself definitely have an eye on the fantastic [Mr] fox cushion cover).

Saturday 8 January 2011

a totally bats giveaway

In November I promised to give away a mounted bat print, and I can now absolutely, definitely, without question, announce that the winner is *drum roll please* ....err, primula monkey.... which should come as no surprise as you were the only respondent! Congrats, a little mounted Echo the bat print is winging its way to you!

lists

I spent a bit of time creating a banner for the Etsy shop yesterday (it looks tiny here but bigger on the site). Meantime I need to get on with the latest Juno illustrations which are due on Monday AND write my biography for the article on my prints they are including in the next issue. I'd also like to update the print website in a similar style before the magazine comes out.

Oh my gosh! I'm suddenly feeling the need to write a to do list!

In addition I'm determined this year to do something about my workspace (aka the sofa, the kitchen table, the computer desk overflowing with scraps of paper, cds and sketchbooks and well, mostly the kitchen table). Since what was once my tiny studio is now my son's tiny bedroom, I am being super inspired by this fabulous blog post, perfect inspirado if like me you suffer from a total lack of space...

Thursday 6 January 2011

resolution

Gosh, I am a terrible, TERRIBLE businesswoman! Maybe even the worst ever! In a burst of energetic enthusiasm I finally spent some time this afternoon adding prints to my Etsy shop, The Painted Forest, something I've been meaning to do for absolutely ages. Except then I went foraging around the other illustration prints available and ended up buying the fabulous print below by illustrator Jamie Mills. So much for that as my 2011 business plan, although yay! it does mean I will finally have something to put in the huge charity shop frame that's been propped up in my hall since I bought it.

Anyway, I now have a few prints up for sale over there and will be putting more up over the next few days, pop over and heart your favourites! Soooooo many fantastic illustrators on Etsy - make yourself a coffee and spend a few hours browsing and being inspired. It's totally addictive I warn you!

Wednesday 5 January 2011

perilous tightrope


I have a magazine deadline looming and am snuffling and sneezing my way through (over) the roughs. Hopefully over the worst - lots of steaming hot tea and spicy food has made me feel a little bit better... AND I have finally got some ideas down on paper, always a relief. The perils of being last minute...
Actually, I should probably point out that the little blob by her hand came from a smudge on my scanner, not me (I'm not really that disgusting, honest!).