e.d.a.d.i.d 2009

last year i did a little project called 'every day a drawing in december'. i'm going to try & do it again this year, with the same rules (if you can call them that) applying: as long as i draw something, anything, every day for the coming month, that's great. if i don't manage, it's no big deal. it's just nice to have another reason to draw.

keep up with it here.

letterbox goodness

i think most people will agree when i say getting post is one of life's simple pleasures. getting a letter from someone through the door, finally receiving the package you've been expecting, or the surprise of one you didn't know about. i've been lucky enough to have something from all three categories this week. above are three zines that have been added to my collection: good to know issue #6 from amy (which came along with some other great little treats), if drawings were photographs, by rob & tom & published by it's nice that, plus nature zine by various people & published by hand of man.

a package that i picked up today was a result of an international art exchange currently making the rounds. started by the lovely flora douville, it's basically a really excellent chain letter where, if all goes as planned, you receive thirty six little works of art from all over. above are a zine & print by erin mcphee, which she sent along with two other prints, so it was a great package to receive! her drawings are really quite lovely, & the zine concept was hilarious: once people find out that erin is an illustrator, they assume her boyfriend is one too. as a result, the zine is a collaboration of her drawings as an illustration student, & his as a history student.

this final package is kind of a mystery! which is pretty cool. all i know is that my letter is from canada, that the person may have taken three of these photos & found the rest, & that they associate where i live with a certain film starring paul hogan. i think it's an international art exchange offering, but i've yet to find out for sure.

along with all this great stuff, i've taken part in susie ghahremani's (of boygirlparty fame) pen pal party. mail is the best. i hope you're all getting equally awesome things arriving on your doormat.

foxes

it's getting scarily close to december (i.e. christmas), so i'm attempting to come up with a card design. i really like my cards from last year, so it's going to be a challenge to make something i like equally as much time around! i want to use an animal again, & have gone for a fox so far, which also means i get to use the colour orange. will keep you updated. 

ps. hello mum. x

merry christmas deer

do you like deer? do you like christmas? do you like cards? well you, my friend, are in luck. there are only ten packs of these cards available, so be swift!

five reasons

thank you

over the past couple of months, my stat counter has pointed out that a few lovely people have been kind enough to post about my work. i kept meaning to make something to say thank you; not only is it encouraging to read something nice about your work, it's ace that other people comment on the things that are written! i was going to make a list of those places after collecting links to where i've been featured, but i think the list might get a bit too ridiculous to post here! so here is a simple thank you for now. for any posts, image features, link to my blog, website or shop. i really appreciate it! 

ps. one site i will point out is the ever-lovely pikaland, with posts from racheal as well as it's founder, amy. & here's a tip: if you visit pikaland before next tuesday, you could perhaps win some things from my shop. go!

wishing

i always seem to get into the swing of my days off on the day before i have to go back to work. today i slept until 10am, then wandered around the local charity shops, before hanging out in my friend's greengrocers-to-be. then picked up some food, before coming home & making some bunting. after that, i drew, then my boy & i had a lovely dinner, before i did some more drawing. now i'm sitting here resenting it being half past ten, & wishing that tomorrow i could do exactly the same as today.

itunes a-z: g

itunes a-z: a-g

workspace

i certainly needed a big clear out of my desk space. i'm looking forward to getting some drawing done now.

a-z

since opening my shop, i've been hoping a new project would come to mind, & hooray, it has! i had been planning on some speed sketching, by listening to itunes on shuffle, & drawing whichever artist or band came on for the duration of their song, before starting on the next one. but who was i kidding; it took me the entirety of bat for lashes' album two suns to draw natasha khan! i drew andrew bird first, & since his name begins with a, decided to move onto b. this should keep me busy for a little while.

rut

i swear, setting my new shop up seems to have used up all my energy! i'm in a big of a creative rut ladies & gentlemen. i'm still drawing (this group has been an incredible daily exercise) but my brain seems to be needing a rest regarding coming up with new ideas. i'm trying not to let it annoy me however, especially since october is looking choc-full of things to do that aren't drawing-based.

anyway, i thought i'd make it known that i'm still alive. if you have any advice that you'd like to share about what you do when you're experiencing a creative drought, do share!

giveaway winners!

we have winners! thank you to everyone who entered, but random.org has spoken, & here are the winners in order of winning comments: 

5. debbie 9. miss kolleen 21. milla 34. mjo 

well done guys! send me over an e-mail with your address to here & i can send out your prints! i'll most certainly hold another giveaway in future, so anyone who didn't win should keep an eye out. & of course there's always my shop if you can't wait that long, ha. thanks again!

shop opening/print giveaway!

hooray! today is the day my etsy shop opens. pretty much everything that i've been working on over the past month is in there, plus some things i've made over the last year. finally! it's been a long time coming. why not go & have a peek right here.

also, to celebrate, i'm having a little giveaway. i have a very small edition (12) of these colour versions of my 'there's no place like home' gocco print, & i'm going to give away four to readers (without the frame). they're slightly bigger than the normal white version in my shop, available on six colours (so two prints per colour), & at the moment they're not available anywhere else but this blog post. to be in with a chance of winning, just leave a comment, & i'll pick four people at random on sunday. exciting!

* lovely pegs in first image by zoetropa

plans

continuing with 'what i wore today'. an easy little daily exercise, wondering how long i can keep it up for.

i am opening my etsy shop in FOUR days! i'm mostly prepared, it's exciting. will have to start planning some giveaways too.

what i wore today - 010909

fun new group on flickr. i posted what i wore on wardrobe remix for a week, but felt ridiculous taking photos of myself. this is miles better.

timber!

i am most certainly wearing this shirt to work tomorrow.

timber!

complete

tonight has involved a lot of printing, a lot of folding, & a lot of stapling. amazingly, i'm a week ahead of my self-imposed schedule. i should take tomorrow off, but after getting into the habit of using my time so well, i'm wondering how easy it'll be to stop!

proof

i've not posted much work online of late. don't let that fool you. here is some evidence of said busy-ness. the piles of paper are a zine of drawings i've been working on, on & off, for longer that i'd like to admit (since march, argh!), but it's coming together, along with a couple of other things. it's exciting to have psychical products in your hands after working on them for hours! the above image is a kaleidoscope-esque thing that is a repeated pattern of the word 'we'. you can't see the word anymore, the pattern swallowed it whole. the result ties in with the zine. all will be revealed once it's complete.

 

business time

i swear, i really have not had a moment to sit down & blog recently (well, apart from sunday). when i don't have plans, i generally try & do something on my giant to-do list. however, tonight's plans were cancelled, so i'm trying to catch up with the internet. above you can see some new business cards i received in the post today. i'm very happy with them, i used the drawing i did for reuben miller's blog banner, & got them printed on moo.com's recycled paper. i've never had business cards from moo before (just almost everything else), & i think they're ace.

make

i made myself some daily/weekly deadlines a couple of weeks ago. it's amazing how much more productive i've been as a result.