In Bristol next week it is Cocktail Week, and as you may have guessed I am partial to the odd cocktail or two, so I decided to do Cocktails at home! A different one to try each day - I will keep you posted!
Happy Day Illustrations
Here are a couple of Happy Day Illustrations I have been working on!
Christmas in Dubai...
...nope its not Rudolf or a dodgy looking reindeer, its a camel! I have been asked to design some Christmas cards for my Mum to send from Dubai, and what best to include but the most famous of desert animals!
Robin Hood (and Santa)...
I am in the process of designing some souvenir cards, and where better to start than Nottingham with Robin Hood! I hand drew all the type and then digitalised it as well as designing the little characters in Illustrator. I also began working on a Christmas range starting with Santa...
Here are the original hand drawn ones before I digitalised them
Moo Sample Book
A few weeks ago I ordered a sample book from Moo, as I really love their products and services that I have had so far and wanted to see the full range for potentially for printing my cards. What a nice surprise it was that came through the post! It was so well put together with of course their lovely products. I especially liked the samples they chose for the bakery Coco. I think I will definitely be ordering in the future!
Rosa's Thai Cafe
I actually ordered this book to go in the Thai Hamper but it arrived too late (so I got to keep it!). I really love the design on the front - made to look like a quintessentially British doily but when you look closer there are so many other elements in it like monkeys, tuk tucks and forks. In the book Rosa goes on to explain the reasoning for all these individual elements, from the monkeys that represent her year of birth in the Chinese zodiac to bottle cut outs which represent one of Thailands biggest export - Sriracha sauce. I love the personality in the design and the hidden elements which come to life at a close look.
My Thai Kit
As promised, some more photos of the thai food hamper I made with the fictional branding for a wedding present!
Ben and Emma
I was recently approached to create a bespoke wedding card for a couple who are getting married this weekend, the wedding is 50s themed, so the card was tied into this style
Sending you a hug...
... in a card! Here are some of the new designs I've been working on, this is the first trial design I have made with the hand drawn card. I will be working on developing this into other themes etc!
House of Jade paper goods on Etsy
I have finally made an Etsy shop for my card range! After a few years of making cards I can finally sell them! I sell them under the name House of Jade, check them out here
Comparison is the thief of joy...
So very true!
My Thai Hamper
For a gift, I am currently working on making a thai food themed hamper. I have been designing new packaging complete with logos and cocktail cards to cover the current packaging to tie in the theme altogether. I have really enjoyed making it, I will have to theme some more in the future! There are a couple of pictures and I will put some more on when complete. The top two images are examples of how I have repackaged the spice pastes (the left being how it was when I bought the paste, the right being the transformation!).
Gingerella
The other day at a small food stall in Bristol I came across this lovely packaging for Gingerella Ginger Ale by Karma Kola. They are a company who provide eco-friendly, fair trade drinks - so not only do they look good they do good too! The website looks pretty cool too, I am especially liking the top tagline 'Drink no Evil'!
You're a fine-apple....
For our wedding anniversary we like to try and keep with the traditional gifts, this year being fruit and flowers. Here are some of the fruit themed* things that I made...
*WARNING - Super cheesy!
Dismaland
...was amazing! Initially I thought it would be a sort of walk round and out thing that would only take half an hour, but we spent 3 hours there and potentially could have spent longer! It was so visually interesting with so many things going on, many of which were interactive, like the backwards ferris wheel or the hook-a-duck in which the ducks were stuck in oil/tar. I would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to go, but I think there is only about 2 weeks left of it being open. The whole thing touches on many current issues in the media ranging from the migrant crisis, through to social media and 'Big Brother' style surveillance - definitely some eye opening things in there. It was all finished off nicely with the 'Dismals' - unhappy looking staff ordering the guests to hurry up and get a move on all whilst wearing pink hi-vis and Mickey Mouse ears. My favourite was a dismal working on the 'Crazy Gulf' mini golf course who relished in disrupting one couples game of mini golf by sprawling himself across the golf course whilst they were trying to put! If you can - go see it!
A Dismaland Panorama
One of the pieces by Ronit Baranga in the Big Top Freak Show
Banksy - a nod towards Sea World perhaps?
Barry Reigate
Scott Hove in The Big Top Freak Show - I have loved his work for a long time, it was really good to get to see some pieces up close!
Nettie Wakefield
The lasagne horse meat scandal
Banksy - Cindarellas pumpkin has crashed and is surrounded by paparazzi taking pictures - where is the human element of care in such incidents?
Banksy
Hook-a-duck
The world has become selfie obsessed
Jessica Harrison
Dismaland
I finally got tickets! After trying for the last 2 batches of ticket sales I finally got tickets after an hour of refreshing the browser... pictures to follow soon!
A new house
Having recently moved I have drawn and designed some new address cards for family and friends.
Yummy
As you may have noticed or for those of you that know me - I love food and drink! Eating, cooking, mixing, inventing, all sorts! Here are some of the things that I have been making and eating lately!
Pretty little things
Recently at a car boot sale (when we had 6 tables of things to sell!) I saw these adorable little nail polishes on the table opposite so I had to buy one! I only wish I bought more in different colours!
Some of the lovely flowers growing in my mums garden
I have just bought a painting by the wonderful Milo Munroe, I have been meaning to buy on for years but especially since we have left Leicestershire I wanted to get one even more. I first saw his work in a Cafe in Oakham about 9 years ago, he sells his artwork weekly on Melton Mowbray market, always updating his stall with new work. I love the collage element, colours and glitter that he combines to make his artwork.
This is what my hands, my face, my table, my floor and my cats look like when I have been making laser cut cards!
When I was younger on a day trip to Matlock with my sister and grandparents my Nanna bought this lovely little 'Freshly caught fairy', I have always loved it and thought it seemed so magical (I have always loved things like this!), a few years ago my Nanna gave it to me and in my new house I've been able to put it out so I get to see it much more than I used to. The label says never to open the jar incase she escapes (and infact ever since my Nanna bought the fairy i have never taken the cloth off the top - call me superstitious!).
This is one of my favourite paintings! When we lived in Brunei a man came to the door one evening selling paintings, and this was one of them! My parents bought 4 different ones, but this is my favourite! Having recently moved to Dubai my parents have left it with me to 'look after' - hopefully long term!
Some things I've been making
I have made a few different things lately - mainly for gifts here are some of them...
A birthday card for my Grandpa - who as you can guess likes Elvis!
I have seen lots of these Sharpie mugs on Pinterest where once the design is drawn on the mug can be baked to 'set' it so I thought I would have a go - another gift for my Grandpa who is a builder!
Practicing with paint for my laser cut cards
This was a folding booklet I made using envelopes and 'postcard' style notes in each pocket
A Long Island Iced Tea kit for my husbands birthday
A genie birthday scratch card - it can be made with a customised wish!