Mother's Day Designs

As Valentine's is nearly upon us I thought I'd plan ahead & get my Mother's Day designs prepared..... I'm printing these on the cream card like the Animal Alphabet etc. I might go back & introduce some pink or orange areas at a later date. At least I have some to put on the shelves after the weekend!

Meet Taboo our new friend!

We collected her from the Cats Protection on Monday afternoon. It's so lovely having feline company at home again - even at 4am when she decides she wants a cuddle!

We might change the name Taboo yet we're waiting to see what becomes appropriate?

We are hoping to adopt a second puss but she is not very well at the moment so it might not be for a while. Keeping fingers crossed x

Source book inspiration

I'm trying to keep myself busy.........

So this evening I've finished off one of my 'source books'. I've produced these sort of scrap books since college so I have quite a library of them now! Unfortunately there never seems to be enough time to devote to doing them these days and the pile of cards, photos, magazine cut outs just seems to grow & grow......

This year I'm going to make a real effort to sort out some of the paper!

It's really amazing when you look back at things from years previously & then find inspiration from different elements.

What I really need is a whole room to devote to this project so I could spread all the stuff over a wide area & select the images which go together.....yes in an ideal world.....

These are just a few of my favourite pages from the most recent book:

GRUMBLE sadly missed

Yesterday was very hard as we said goodbye to Grumble our dear friend for 20 years.

She was a very strong character which many friends & family will know & have scars to prove it!! Grumble sadly passed away yesterday evening at home with us - I think she had just had enough. The house seems very empty without her & it's going to take some time to get used to not seeing her around....

She had a long & happy life and I'm glad that we were able to share it with her for so many years.

Badge Bonanza!

Following on from the buttons.......

After some searching of the attic & garage mum finally located my badge collection from the 70s & early 80's. I'm not sure how I obtained all these sports badges as I'm not keen on anything too athletic now!!! Looks like some of them might have been through the washing machine????

I think these must have been my mum's??

Very retro!

Always a cat fan...

VALENTINE CARDS!

Valentine cards are now in production!!

Valentine Designs

These are the Valentine designs I was working on yesterday......

I'll probably add some stamped lettering (like on the animal alphabet designs) to the final greetings cards. It's a beautiful bright sunny day but my feet are a 'little chilled' at the studio!! A fab huge snowman has appeared at The Fold - I must remember to bring my camera tomorrow...I don't think he'll melt overnight as they are talking about -14 degrees again!

Crafts not just for Christmas Exhibition

I'm thrilled at the catalogue for the forthcoming crafts exhibition at Worcester City Art Gallery!

You may remember from an earlier post the gallery commissioned me to design & make a piece of jewellery to reflect the theme of the exhibition....a very sad looking cat & dog!

This brooch has been photographed and used for the invite & catalogue plus the actual piece is going to be the prize in a raffle. Entry into the exhibition & gallery is free.

It's lovely to see an image of my work used to promote what should be a fab exhibition. Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to attend the opening this Friday as I'll be down in Suffolk but I'll be rushing down to the gallery on Foregate Street in Worcester next week to see the display.

www.worcestercitymuseums.org.uk

Christmas Cats!

Just been looking through an old folder of designs & found these xmas cats from years ago!!

I don't remember ever putting them into 'production'?

Think they would look groovy as some wrapping paper maybe??

It's funny how you re-discover things....

I'm planning to have a MAJOR sort out after Christmas so who knows what treasures I'll find?

Pet on a Postcard!

Sue Lim at Blue Ginger is once again inviting entries, as part of The Big Draw, for a community exhibition to be held at the gallery 14th - 25th October.

www.thebigdraw.org

We're a bit late with ours but Sue said it's OK!

Basically you can bid for the mini works of art during the exhibition & there's a special evening on 24th October 6 - 9pm at Blue Ginger, Home End Farm, Cradley WR13 5NW.

www.blue-ginger.com

All money received will be donated to Acorns Children's Hospice.

The background for my metal cat was printed using one of my etched pieces - I rather like the effect.... I might experiment further using some of the other designs.

This is Tim's entry....

& Sarah's.....

Crafts not just for Christmas

I've just completed a commission for Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum. This November & December they are holding a crafts exhibition at the gallery. I was approached to design a piece to illustrate the theme with a play on the words 'pets not just for Christmas', making my cat & dog look rather sad....it's amazing what a difference the head angle, eyes & mouth can make! I hope I have answered the brief!?

The piece was saw pierced from copper & brass & soldered together - the whiskers were a little tricky! I then oxidised the piece & textured the little dog to make him look even more scruffy.