Feature in the Folksy Blog!

I was delighted to be amongst those acting as Folksy Ambassadors at their Christmas Fairs this year and here is the feature giving the highlights of my day in Gloucester with theMADEproject http://frankly.folksy.com/2012/12/05/the-big-christmas-made-market

Feel very shy about it now - life doesn't stop throwing up new challenges does it!? Thank you for reading. :)

Product Photography - Back to School

I know I am not alone with this and am calling out in frustration for help. Anyone setting up online has to meet and tame the dreaded photography monster - at the moment the little beast is getting the better of me.

I have read and re-read pages and pages of tips. I have spoken with photographers who clearly do know what they're doing and I am still struggling.

I diffuse bright natural light. I watch out for hard shadows. I use a camera which allows me to make adjustments (frankly need a course on these) and have had some help getting a basic set-up. I have a tripod - and use it. I have a light-tent for white background shots - and use it (still not brilliant). I AM DOING SOMETHING WRONG.

I need help. Maybe that's all I needed to write in the first place. I'll be back when the fairs are over to tell you how they went and maybe I'll have formed a photo training plan by then. Hope so.

X

Off with the old and on with the new

One of the things that I have learned over the last year (well almost) since I set up Inkyprints-Originals is that it is important both to build an identifiable brand and keep it fresh. Once the basic portfolio was set then adding to the range of designs and products has been the way forward...and this never stops. Partly driven by creative impulse, partly motivated by commercial imperatives and partly prompted by a product process review, I have been busy carving new designs for a new range. Exciting and fun for me to do.

But what does this mean for the old designs? Well bar a couple, they are all going going gone. That's right - the current pocket notebook is being discontinued. Already? I know. It makes sense though, trust me. I'll be listing the full remaining stock of pocket notebooks on Folksy and Etsy over the next week and hope they fly off to new homes to wait it out for the Christmas cheer.


I have given a few hints on Facebook so it's only fair that I do so here as well, but the full reveal will have to wait a couple more weeks.  I'm looking forward to it.

Feathered friends joining the flock

Flip Flap Floppy with Fish

Can't wait to show you them all soon. Have a lovely weekend. X

Lino-Love Folksy Friday

I just couldn't help myself, and I'm not about to apologise. I have been indulging in a little bit of Lino-Love over a cuppa. Could do this all day but that would be naughty, and I don't like everyone to know just how naughty I am. Go on, a little of what you fancy does you good and who am I to argue with such an old adage.

Zebedee

James Green Printworks

Helen Maxfield Printmaking

Amanda Colville Linocut Prints

Stuart Brocklehurst - Printmaker

Lovely. All lovely. Thank you xxx

Goblingate and the swallows

Ok, so time is limited and when I head up to the studio for a printing session I have a target in mind and it makes me all grobbly and cross when I don't make it. My last session was like that and I blamed it on the goblins (in clogs no less) stomping about in the attic. In truth it's probably got a lot more to do with the cooler temperatures affecting the inks than with studio goblins. I suppose. Hrmpf.

Anyway here is a snapshot of what I was up to - there will be lots more of these and they are destined for journals. The swallows themselves are also taking their place in a multi-block limited edition print, but more of that later.

Don't dismiss the notion of studio goblins though - they are real. Oh yes, and mine wear clogs just to make sure I can hear them dancing in their own delight. X

When all the world is still and quiet...

..the pigs come out to fly at night.  Oh yes, I'm having none of this and pigs might fly nonsense. You just need to be a nightowl to know it's true. I have just done this little swine for some fun - I always feel with characters like these that they could be part of some wild and daring adventures. One of these days (or nights in this case) I shall sit down and get the whole story from them, chapter by chapter, to pass on to you...magic carpets, lost arks, cave dwellers and all.

He's not in Folksy yet (or Etsy - oh yes, I've been busy, but more of that in more posts soon - promise) but will be soon. Remember to look up next time you're out late. X

How to get to Kettering...

Whoops, almost a full month since I last had a chance to catch my breath over a cuppa - it's not right is it, a woman needs tea, and breath for that matter.

So here I am and the holidays have been great - I should have posted about the Peak District  - completely fabulous and kind enough to let me pretend to myself that I'm a walker, not a born walker, but I too can stride and climb...as long as I take it easy on the left knee. My son even let me borrow his much prized thumbstick - think I may have led those around me to believe that I was carrying it for him, but in truth, I liked having summat to lean on!

The days pootle on and we have had fun making circus puppets, creating chalk towns in the garden and generally chilling out together. I have a sense of looming change as the summer mooches towards autumn and have been trying to line up some work plans - it's not as much fun as chalking sandcastles onto an urban patio-beach, but exciting nonetheless.

I am streamlining processes over the next few months, developing the larger journal ranges and introducing a new chunkier notebook as I get the bookbinders more involved. I have also been on the look-out for venues and am happy to say that I should have the Christmas dates soon (don't, I know, it's the 25th, thanks).

In the meantime, I have been back in touch with the Anns of Pennine Fairs and will be exhibiting in the Boughton House Craft and Design Fair this bank holiday weekend - I'll be there on Sunday. It runs from 10 til 5 and promises to be the sunniest of the weekend opportunities so if you're in the Kettering, Geddington area then it would be lovely to meet you....

 http://www.penninefairs.co.uk/page14.html

 http://www.boughtonestate.com/landscape/

So then, how best to get to Kettering, right I'm off to google that one.