I built this nest

A new Illustration I finished today inspired by the instinct we have to nest, collect things and decorate our homes.

Mail art: Outgoing

I have been busy sending lot’s of mail art out to lovely creatives recently;

First was a reply to Lucy of Moll and Mostin, I sent her a hand typed letter as I loved the hand stamped letter she sent me as well as one of my barn owl illustrations, a paper map garland, a thrifted botanical illustration, a fabric screen printed key and some Canadian stamps c/o Jessica Gowling;

I also had a long-awaited requested envelope to send to Ashley Gaia, I sent her one of my barn owl illustrations as I remember her saying she had a love of owls, a fabric screen printed key, an old map picture and a cutting of a 1920’s magazine advert;

I also had another mail art request to send to Sumi Senthi, I sent her some of my illustrations, a screen printed key, some buttons and some cuttings;

A requested envelope was also sent to Hailey Restuccia of  Bella and Tino I hope she liked it;

I also have two peachy little packages sitting here waiting to fly over to Jessica Gowling and Jeannine Saylor in Canada but because of the postal strike over there the Post office won’t let me send them.

If you’d like to exchange mail art with me then go to my ‘I wanted to tell you’ page.

The mountains are calling

Etsy

Mountain Love

Handmade in Britain / Bath

Today I had a lovely day sauntering around the streets of Bath with some friends, we went to the Handmade in Britain fair, bumbled around flea markets, haberdashery’s and charity shops and ate cookies, It was just peachy.

The Makery Emporium

Handmade in Britain was full of wonderful crafty designer makers, who were all so friendly, it was really interesting chatting to them about their inspirations and methods. Some of my favorites were:

Zoe Hillyard ~ Beautiful recycled silk and ceramic patchwork pieces that were truly original and encapsulated the ethos of craft and up-cycling perfectly.

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Deryn Relph ~ Rainbow bright interior textiles that would uplift any room, I loved this chair:

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Natalie Salisbury ~ Beautiful jewellery that embodied the intricacy of lace work, we were swooning over these rings for some time:

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Emily Gliddon ~ Elegant, nostalgic jewellery with really interesting surface patterns,she also does jewellery making workshops in Bristol which I would love to do.

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Helen Steel ~ Cheerful handmade textile home wears and gifts, I loved the printed tea towels and applique bird badges.

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There were so many other inspiring exhibitors I definitely recommend a visit if you can tomorrow, see the Handmade In Britain Website for more information.

Work space;

Nifty Thrifty

I thrifted this little gem yesterday, Love it! :

Mail art

I received two exciting bits of mail this week:

Firstly some mail art from Jeannine Saylor (Saylor Made):

She sent me a hand decorated envelope full of cheer, including a lovely letter, a mixed media drawing, a button swap, some cuttings, a vintage Rolodex print, a new set of antlers and some fuzzy felt letters, stickers and googly eyes!

I also got this little beauty from ezerd :

Crochet inspirationals:

This weekend I’ve decided I am going to master the wonderous art of crochet, I have dreams of  vintage inspired pot holders displayed on one of my walls, doilie inspired pieces, blankets and bunting. Here are some pretty inspirationals:

Pinterest

Available from Etsy

Plus 3 Crochet

Pinterest

Purl bee

Dottie Angel

*Dottie Angel is a wonderful place to visit, I often find myself getting lost in her dreamy craft world, she also has a ‘How to’ for a pretty crochet blanket with doilies. Perfect.

**For even more crochet inspirationals have a look at my Pinterest.

Feral Luna

Luna has lost her collar, again. This is bad for two reasons: One, it cost me £8 for her identity badge and two because she looks all feral and stray. My hunt for a new stylish collar for her has so far been fruitless. This one I found on Etsy however is a winner (if I could afford it) It is handmade and custom hand stamped, it also has a band of elastic so your cat can escape tricky situations easily! Available from Polka Shop

The FABerge project

Here is the faberge egg illustration I did for Anna Jane Searle’s FABerge project, it is based on the Russian ‘Peter the great faberge egg 1903’. I really enjoyed drawing it and the theme was a great idea for a project, if you would like to get involved then see here for more details (the closing date is 01/07/11).

I also recommend a visit to Anna’s wonderful blog Annarack , I love her beautiful illustrations, especially the alphabetized animals.