New Life

Things have been slow on the blogging front as i've been busy looking after the bearer of these little wrinkly feet.
My world has been turned upside down in the best possible way ever.
I can't express the boundless love I feel for our little lamb (so called as I often hear her bleating) there are lots of other good noises too.
I feel so lucky and grateful to have been able to become a mum and am thankful for each day I get to spend watching our daughter grow, she's absolutely amazing.
It's like i've been given the best job ever and the greatest opportunity in the world, all the choices I make and the things I do with & for our daughter are so important. It's like I've been given the chance to try and make the best little being ever.

So you'll have to excuse me for a while longer but I promise this isn't the last you've heard of me, I have quite a few exciting projects in the pipeline.

In the meantime, to celebrate another arrival - my favourite season, I'm currently knocking 25% off everything in my Etsy shop. Just enter the code 'CRUNCHYLEAVES' at checkout. Tell everyone you know. 

I'm extremely proud & in awe of our friends who set off from John O'Groats yesterday morning on a long journey to Lands End. They're raising much needed awareness & money for Group B Strep Support in memory of Chloe & Gracie Ungi. 

Please take a moment to read more below and donate if you're able to but share it amongst everyone you know either way as spreading the word & awareness is just as important.

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is the UK's most common life threatening infection in newborn babies and yet most of these dreadful infections are preventable. 

Read more & donate here

Follow their progress here

I'm very excited because in less than one week me and my love will be moving into our first home. I was actually drawing this card when the solicitor called to let me know that we'd exchanged contracts! So I guess it just goes to show a little patience goes a long way, I thought we'd never get here. 

Here's the finished card! I ended up printing it in a very similar blue to the one pictured below.

Something Blue

Last year I designed and printed all the stationery for my friend Rebecca's wedding. It was such an honour to play a part in her and her lovely husband Tom's big day.

I'm in the middle of a house move so they're all packed away, but once we've settled i'll photograph them. Anyway, the reason i'm telling you all this is that I used the design as a starting point for this new card. I'm hoping to get it on screen & printed this week - will be sure to share the final results with you.

Alphabet City

I've been busy drawing letters for a new project i'm working on, more news on that soon.

Hook Line & Sinker

Phew! Pick Me Up ended on Sunday so this week i've been catching up on lots of loose ends.

Thank you so much to everyone who came by to say hello, it was quite fun at times listening in to people talking about my work. Thankfully I only heard nice things (selective hearing I presume)

This little print has been sitting in a sketchbook for around 6 months, i'm glad that I finally found the time to draw it up properly and get it printed. It really makes me want to go for a swim in the sea & now the sun is finally here I might just do that!

Today is the official opening day of Pick Me Up, though the private view was last night and what a night it was! Thanks so much to everyone who came along to show their support. It really is a great show and an even better opportunity to see lots of brilliant work at very reasonable prices.

Pictured above is a brand new two colour screenprint I made especially for the show. 

It's an edition of only 50 and measures 30 x 40cm.

Pick Me Up 2013

For the last year I have been discussing selling my work with the brilliant Soma in Bristol. Just when I thought it was never going to happen I was blown away when they asked me to join them alongside the  great Tom Frost, Peskimo, Nicholas John Frith & Telegramme for this years Pick Me Up.

For those of you that don't know, Pick Me Up is a huge graphic art fair which is held each year at Somerset House. The show runs from 18th - 28th April and is open daily from 10am - 6pm or 10pm on Thursdays. Entry is £8, or £6 for concessions.

If you do manage to visit please be sure to come and say hello.

Nobody's Perfect

I screen print each of my cards by hand and sometimes I make mistakes, either with the registration or ink coverage.

Bad news for my ego but good news for your pocket as I'm selling these slight seconds in bumper packs of 10 cards complete with envelopes for just £10 so get stocked up by clicking here

A Day In Deal

Last week I jumped at the opportunity to go and hand deliver some of my work to a brand new stockist in the beautiful seaside town of Deal.

The shop is called Dunlin & Diver and you'll find it at 112 High Street, Deal, Kent CT14 6EE.

At the moment they're open Wednesday - Saturday 9.30 - 5.00 but as the year goes on and when the weather hopefully picks up this will lead to extended hours.

It's a beautiful bright shop full of lots of things I wanted to buy and bring home.

Although I only had a couple of hours to spare I managed to fit in a walk along the breezy but sunny seafront. I also found a plethora of wonderful charity shops which was bad news for my back on the journey home as I bought so many great old books about embroidery, insects, flowers & other things.

Trains to Deal take just over 2 hours from London Charing Cross .

Here's another card design which i'm aiming to get on screen & printed very soon.

Today...

I'll be mostly freezing my toes off at Spitalfields market. It's so quiet here, think the miserable weather is definitely putting people off. Ah well, gotta keep smiling!

SALE TIME

For one week only i'm offering a whopping 35% off everything in my Etsy shop. To receive the discount simply enter the code 'MMadness' at checkout. You'll find my Etsy shop here Please feel free to spread the word amongst your friends and family.

On Saturday 16th March from 11 til 5 you'll find me at the Designers Makers Market in Old Spitalfields Market, London EC1.

I'll be selling a selection of my prints, teatowels,birch trays, tape & hand printed cards.

So, if you're in the area please be sure to stop by and say hello.

You can read all about it here

Sticking with it

For as long as I can remember I've been threatening to learn how to take proper photos of my work, it seems to become my New Years resolution year after year! Yesterday it felt like Spring had finally arrived so I took advantage and re-photographed my tape. I think they came out pretty well. I hear ractice makes perfect so hopefully whatever follows will simply keep getting better & better.

My lips are sealed....

.....well almost! I'm currently working on this fantastic project, you can read all about it here Can't wait to see all of the designs.

Affordable Art Fair, Hong Kong

The wonderful TAG Fine Arts have been working non stop packing and shipping art all the way over to Hong Kong for this years Affordable Art Fair I'm pleased as punch to let you know that my work has been included. The fair runs from March 15th - 17th and the private view is on March 14th, if anyone out there would like to go please get in touch.

I think...

I finally got round to printing these little beauties, if in doubt I pretty much always choose neon! Grab yourself one of these two colour hand screenprinted cards from my Etsy shop for only £2.50

Handle With Care

There's no better way to start the day than taking delivery of brand new tape. It's got to be my favourite one yet which has totally made my day. I normally use my other tape on parcels but I was getting fed up writing 'Fragile' on everything so to save a bit of time i've come up with this handy design. It's now available in my Etsy shop at the very special price of £6.50 per roll