Stamp it out!

I recently rediscovered my old tins of carved rubber stamps that I made over 10 years ago ( yikes that long!) It was nice to find them again and I had forgotten just how many I had made! They were great fun to do and it was always quite a challenge to come up with a design that would work in such a small space: 3cm x 4.5cm. I even made myself a special tool for the job, basically a needle in a wooden handle so I could get all the fine details in. 

Here's a selection of some of my favourites all with a slightly surreal feel.
I spent ages searching for the perfect rubber to carve and I've still got a little stash of them waiting to be cut. I used to sell little groups of framed prints at my exhibitions and the prints do make nice cards too, perhaps I should find the time to make some new ones for my shop...

Bloomin' Spring!

I took a few photos around the house this week to join in with Lou's Nature in the Home feature on her blog. We have had some lovely Spring sunshine this week but it's still so cold!
These are my Mother's Day flowers, and a very good choice too, thanks Jimmy! Gerberas are my favourite flowers and I love the zingy colours which fit in very well with our colour scheme. I'm fond of chrysanthemums too which always remind me of my dear Grandma who always had dried ones in her house when I was little.

I was excited to see that one of my many cacti also decided to flower on Mother's Day.  I have loved cacti and succulents since I was a teenager, I find them strangely beautiful and a bit creepy, especially when they flower.

This is a photo from last year, this cactus always put on an amazing display, but so fleeting as each bloom only lasts a day!

World Book Day!

In honour of World Book Day I thought I'd post a few pics of some books I recently added to my groaning bookshelves.  Last year on an art college reunion visit back to Maidstone, we also visited the lovely town of Rochester and stumbled upon a great old bookshop. It was full to the rafters with books and I made a beeline for the children's section and couldn't resist these. I was really pleased to find 'Jimmy wins a prize' with beautiful illustrations from 1946.  The Owl and the Pussy-Cat dates from 1969 how cool is that psychedelic cat!

Hello Spring!

Well the sun is shining here, it's a gorgeous spring day! Just thought I'd post these new illustrations for Woman and Home, showing tips for cleaning silver with toothpaste and cleaning egg from pans with cold water ( I never knew that!)

I must try and be a better blogger but time just runs away with me these days as I chase after Jimmy, who is enjoying his new found freedom now he can walk and run! Here he is on his first visit to the shoe shop, already eyeing up his next pair...Well the silver ones do look far more exciting!

Competition News!

 

I recently entered this design: 'Paisley Parade' into a mug design competition organized by Buttercup China.  I am pleased to say that I am one of 10 finalists and the winner will be announced this week at Spring Fair International...I'll be keeping my fingers crossed! You can see the other selected entries HERE.  

On the subject of competitions, todryfor are holding their annual tea towel design competition this month, and you can find all the information you need to enter HERE.  I was super chuffed to win it last year and it's been great to see my design for sale in shops up and down the country, including Debenhams!

Happy New(ish) Year!

Happy New Year everyone:)
Here's a little spot illustration just published in Woman & Home.   It's that time of year when we all join the queue at the customer service desk to return our unwanted Christmas gifts! Mad eh?  Well I must say if I had received that jumper I would have kept it!  Hope you were all happy with your Christmas presents.. I had lots of lovely things and we now have an even bigger toy mountain in the living room!

Warm Wishes!

Merry Christmas to all my fellow bloggers!  Hope you all have a fabulous festive time! See you in 2013...

Here's a couple of snaps of our Christmas tree.  It's a little one, high up on the sideboard out of Jimmy's reach but he is really captivated by it for the first time this year.  I absolutely love these fuzzy pipe cleaner santas, some of them came from my Grandma and Grandad and I remember being really fascinated by them when I was little.  I was really pleased to find a box of them in a charity shop a few years ago so now we have a complete set.  So simple, yet so charming!