Thursday 25 October 2012

My Top 10 Folksy Halloween Treats - Part 2

Five more spooktacular treats found on Folksy...

6) Halloween Badges


Ten little badges all made from fun fabric. I think these would be great to give out to trick-or-treaters, adorn your witches hat with or decorate a sweetie bag. Made by Crafts Council.

7) Party Print Fabric


Sold by The Sewing Boutique this is some awfully cute fabric from Riley Blake, and I think it would be perfect for making a little 50s-style skirt with or even a tablecloth for a spooky spread. Boo! Eek!

8) Evil Owl Brooch 

Anyone who knows me will know that I love an owl, so this is right up my haunted high street. Not as fluffy and endearing as is my usual preference, but heck, spirits of the dead are walking the earth, so let's get jiggy with it. Made by Cherry Loco Jewellery.

9) Crocheted Eyeballs (!!!)


How ruddy fantastic are these?! I'm a bit of a juggler myself, so think I may actually have to acquire these for Halloween. A juggling Sugar Skull lady with stripy black and purple witches tights? Why not!

The creator of these is Lindylou Handknits - love her crocheted owl too.

10) Giant Pumpkin Fascinator


With flashing lights. Do I need to say anymore?! Gail Mitchell is a genius!

Wednesday 24 October 2012

My Top 10 Folksy Halloween Treats - Part 1

It's been several years since I joined Folksy now, appearing on and off over that time with some of my illustrated crafts. It never ceases to amaze me how much diversity and talent there is on there!

So I thought I'd take a look at what crafty goodies are on offer for Halloween, that eeriest of all holidays after Valentine's day for the heartbroken singleton...

1) Pumpkin Soap Slice


That's right! Keep those cobwebs at bay by keeping yourself squeaky clean on All Hallows Eve with this deliciously dark-topped, candy-striped pumpkin soap slice by The Soap Loaf Company.

2) Batty Tea Cosy


Appealing to my ever-increasing need for tea and comfort, I happened across this sweet, I mean devilishly scary, tea cosy by The Cosy Daisy. Tea and bats! Who knew.

3) Kitty Collars
Because I'm the type of girl who likes her cats to have a collar for all occasions (and the type of girl who recently bought a miniature Santa hat and Santa's-Little-Helper red 'n' green ruffle for her two feline friends), these snazzy treasures seem more like a necessity than an idle want. 

From Mog's Togs Cat Collars, there are several more Halloween-themed designs too. Enhance your kitty's Spidey Senses! Meoowwll!

4) Mug Cosies


The ideal Halloween day is crisp and cool; Autumn leaves swirling to the ground, a touch of mysterious mist in the air... perhaps from a recently boiled kettle... I think these little mug cosies from The Wooly Knitter are great, and will keep the ch-ch-ch-chill from your bone china.

5) Sugar Skull Mask


I've had a bit of an obsession with sugar skulls for the past year or so, notably since I housesat for an old art tutor who had a house full of Mexican artefacts. There's something wonderfully enchanting about their haunting yet beautiful faces.

I'm painting my face up like one this year, but a quicker and more readily reusable option would be this fantastic polyester felt mask by Janine Basil. Look at those colours!

More treats to follow in Part 2 tomorrow!

Monday 22 October 2012

Bright and Blooming

Hello there! It's been a misty old day here with a definite chill in the air. What better way to spread some warmth and sunshine than to jump on a plane to somewhere exotic design something bright and cheerful...! Today I had my watercolour paints out again.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Society6

Running Like Clockworld illustration now available on t-shirts and hoodies on my Society6 page, alongside the usual prints.

Monday 1 October 2012

Embracing the new, repurposing the old

It's the 1st of October!! How did that happen? Well overdue for an illustration update I think! 

Over the past 5 months since my last blog post I've been busy beavering away creating lots of new work, including patterns, greetings cards and children's picture book illustrations. The latter have been submitted to publishers now, so fingers crossed for some good news in the early future!

October is going to be a month of change for me, which seems somewhat seasonally fitting. I'll be turning 26 at the end of the month (yikes), which means I'm officially creeping towards my late twenties (yuck). I'm up to my neck in boxes and bubble wrap at the moment, packing away my life's treasures, as a big move is on the cards. New beginnings and plenty of new challenges ahead, but they are incredibly welcome and in lots of ways I can't wait to get going. 

There's 101 things on my to-do list - a mixture of personal crafty projects, illustrations for clients and a big shake up of design for my online presence, which I've been wanting to do for yonks but haven't had the time for! But as for now, I'll share with you some new 'old-style' illustrations - old in as much as I'm returning to my roots here with watercolours and coloured pencils - and look forward to fresh energy, the start of a new chapter and all the excitement, fulfillment, positivity and chickens (yes, chickens!) it will bring!