If you go down to the woods today...

One of our exercises on the ABSPD Module 1 was to create some character designs.  I've always had trouble drawing animals and people but finally created some girls and woodland creatures that I was fairly happy with as a start.  

I have a habit of throwing everything including the kitchen sink into my designs and this design was even busier until my husband cast his eye over it and said it might be a bit full on.  So this is the pared back version - believe it or not.  The colours have become a bit muted when I've uploaded them this time but you get an idea.  

Which version do you prefer?  Would you like to see anything else added/removed from the design to improve it?  All suggestions welcome.

Give Nana's ornaments a facelift

You've seen them before - the forlorn looking ornaments gracing the shelves of pretty much every charity shop.  Give those ornaments a new home and a new lease of life with this super quick tutorial I made for Craft Candy.

I'll be back ...

...in the words of Arnie!  Huge apologies for the lack of posts over the last few months.  Things have been pretty hectic which meant I ended up taking a longer than hoped for break from the blog.  Im working on some new posts which I am going to schedule for over the next month or so as my baby is due in a couple of weeks, so I don't think there will be much time for blogging when our little one arrives.


Here are some pretty birdies to start with.

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Tara Badcock

(this one is the front panel of a wedding dress that Tara designed for a friend!)

Wow! This lady's work is absolutely stunning! Tara Badcock, creator of Paris Tasmania resided in Paris for 3 years before returning to Tasmania. She creates her own range of homewares, fashion and textile wares using fabric manipulation and embroidery techniques. I am absolutely in love with the wedding dress embroidery she created for a friend!! There are literally hundreds of amazing images of Tara's work on her flickr site. Go check it out!

All aboard...

I did a post on Ann Wood's lovely birds ages ago but was drawn to her fairytale-like boats today, after visiting another blog. I just love these boats and best of all, on Ann's blog (via reloveprojects!) there is a tutorial on how to make yourself one of these beauties. Bank Holiday is coming up and I think I might try and tackle on one these beautiful vessels!

Fantastic Plastic

I am obsessed with shrink plastic at the moment and hve been experimenting with buttons and charms etc - I need to perfect it and try clear plastic and other colors too, but I'm really enjoying making these, especially the girl charms at the top. 

These are now on sale at my etsy shop

Finally...

I made some new things and actually got round to putting them in my Etsy store today!  Not sure if you can tell, but I got a thing for birdies and also, it appears, a thing for appalling photography - sorry about the image quality - photography is not a strength of mine!  More images on my flickr. page.

Isak

I just love these designs from Isak, a small indie UK based design company.  I love the colors, the birds and the products they make - gorgeous fluffy blankets and cute ceramic cups. Check out their blog here and their website here.

DarlingDillyDilly

Darlingdillydilly caught my eye recently when I was lurking about on Flickr.  Her work is mainly in gift tags but it was these lovely items which caught my eye! Im a bit of a sucker for a birdie or two and these little fellas are just lovely!

Joanna Rutter

I was doing my daily trawl on Etsy recently and found UK designer, Joanna Rutter's , pretty jewellery collection, I just love the simplicity of these lovely nature inspired jewels and just had to share them with you.

Munch Munch

Im in the process of redecorating our front room and these lovely cushions by Munch Munch would be a wonderful addition to our sofa.

SanFran

SanFran is based in Manchester and makes these lovely 3D paper pictures. Her wonderful work is available on Etsy. A trio of these would look fab in my bedroom - better get saving!

Emily Sutton

I found Emily Sutton via Oh Joy Blog, these amazing birds are made by Emily and will be in an exhibition at St Jude's gallery in Norfolk from 23 August 2008, go and check them out before they fly off!