Snap snap: 30/01/15

This week I finally finished all of m new designs, and sent them off to the printers! I'm expecting them to arrive on Monday morning, at which point I'll be getting on with photographing them and getting them listed in the shop!

Here's a little look at what I've done this week:

- Weekly visits from Beabea

- One of my favourites of the new designs. I'll be getting this up in the shop asap just in time for Valentines!

- Organising lots of PDF files to send to the printers.

- I also added two new designs (from my Wise Words project) to Art Rookie & Society6.

As always, you can keep up to date with what I'm doing over on Instagram (@EmmaMargaretIllustration)

Wise Words: Flamingo

I wanted a colourful quote for this week's Wise Words illustration, so when I came across this Flamingo one it seemed perfect!

"Be a flamingo in a flock of pigeons!"

Be different, stand out, be you!

I also wanted to use the banners as a container for the text, as I've been using that a lot in my card designs lately, but haven't used it in anything that I've been able to share here yet. 

I ordered all of my new cards yesterday, so I'll be photographing them once they arrive and hope to have them up in the shop by next week!

In my sketchbook: 28/01/15

This week I finished off all the new card designs, and this morning I sent them off to the printers (along with some new business cards, thank you notes and stickers!)

Today's In my sketchbook post provides quite a few sneak peeks at the new designs coming to the shop next week!

Over & over: Bunnies

I had a look through my pattern designs and realised that even though animals are my favourite things to draw, I haven't actually featured them in any of the Over & over designs yet! So I decided to change that this week, by making a pattern full of bunnies!

This one was pretty fun to make, and I'll more than likely be doing another animal themed one next week! Maybe with different kinds of bears?

Snap snap: 23/01/15

I've been working hard again this week and haven't had the time to take as many pictures as I'd have liked to. As well as continuing with the new card range, I've also been working on a little project for a lovely client, illustrating some French monuments.

I've also been getting distracted by reading again! This week I finished Gone Girl, and have made a start (and very nearly finished) The Language of Flowers. I'll be posting another recap of what i've read at the end of the month.

Here's a few of the snaps I did manage to take this week:

- Working on a fun cat-themed design.

- Still going with the Diary doodles!

- Doodling floral accents for my designs.

- The scanned and coloured version of the cat design. You are purrfect!

I'm aiming to order the new cards some time next week, so it really won't be long now until they're up in the shop! Expect to see a few more sneak peeks over the next week or so!

(@EmmaMargaretIllustration)

Wise Words: Pixie Dust

I've been watching Once Upon a Time whilst I work over the past few weeks, so I was inspired to use a quote from one of the characters in that. Although the quote I've used here is form the Disney version of Peter Pan, not the Once Upon a Time version (who is a much darker character!).

"All you need is faith, trust and a little Pixie dust."

The design of this piece is along the same lines as some of the new designs I'm working on. I'll be sharing some of them here shortly, but for now there's a few sneak peaks over on my Instagram account (@EmmaMargaretIllustration).

Over & over: Dainty

The idea for today's pattern came from one of my Diary Doodles from over the weekend. I liked the combination of the geometric triangles, dots and floral motifs so decided to turn into this week's Over & over piece.

I've also used a colour scheme similar to what I've been working with in my new range of designs:

Snap snap: 16/01/15

Its been another week filled with lots of drawing!

- I've been continuing with my diary doodles every day

- Sketching out ideas for a unicorn themed "magical' birthday card

- A little preview of that finished design!

- There's still 10% off everything in my Etsy shop all through January! Just use the code JANUARY23

- Practising some lettering techniques in the and Lettering Ledger

- Starting a brand new sketchbook this weekend! (I was given a few lovely ones for my birthday and Christmas, so I've got plenty to keep me going this year!)

Wise words: Someday

This week I've been reading the Hand Lettering Ledger by Mary Kate McDevitt, and practising a few different techniques. So this Wise Words post comes from scanning in one of the phrases I've sketched out in the practise pages of the book. This is basically just a little experiment with a few different fonts and some filigree. I'm hoping to carry on working may through the book and learn some new techniques over the next couple of weeks!

"There are 365 days in a year, & 'someday' isn't one of them."
How many things can you achieve in the 365 days that make up 2015?

In my sketchbook: 14/01/15

This is the first 'In my sketchbook' post of 2015. I'm hoping to keep up with these a little more regularly this year!

As I've mentioned previously, I've spent the last couple of weeks working on my new card collection (which I am aiming to have ready to launch in February!), so I've been doing a lot of drawing lately and filling up my sketchbooks! 

Here's a few of my favourite pages:

Over & over: Succulent

I doodle these little succulents a few weeks ago for an idea I had for a card design (and one of them may still be making it onto that design soon). I liked the way they were all arranged on the page so I thought I'd make a little pattern with them:

Succulent

Snap snap: 09/01/15

This week I've been working hard on my new card range, as well as doing a bit of reading and making a start on new projects. Here's a few snaps from my week:

- Hello 2015!

- Reading and note taking rom Kari Chapin's great book Grow Your Handmade Business. I really enjoyed this and its motivated to me to carry on with my business and get all the "boring" bits well organised!

- Sketching for this week's Wise Words post.

- Attempting a new mini-project where I try to doodle something in my diary every day. By the end of the year this should be pretty fun to look back through!

- A little preview of one of the new designs. A lovely lady on Instagram used this as inspiration for some nail art!

- A few weeks ago I won a $100 gift card to spend at the lovely Micush Etsy store (I won it as part of Decor8's #12DaysofGiveaways) and this week my chosen goodies arrived! I definitely reccommend checking out the shop, its all a great quality and the illustrations are beautiful.

On my Bookshelf: December '14

For my birthday last year I was given the book of Our Zoo by June Mottershead (after I had enjoyed the BBC Drama version). I hadn't read a book for (embarrassingly) a couple of years before that, but once I got started I read the whole book in two afternoons.  After that I was hooked on reading again, and went online to order myself three more books.

Here's a little summary of what I read in December '14:

1. Our Zoo - June Mottershead

As I already mentioned, this was the first book I read for a long time, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Its a sweet story and its filled with one of my favourite things: animals! This is definitely not a very dramatic story, but its beautiful written and has lots of wonderful descriptions of the animals and the zoo.

2. Before We Met- Lucie Whitehouse

In contrast to the previous book, Before We Met is much more dramatic. I bought this one as I'd just been to see Gone Girl at the cinema (I haven't read it yet but its next on my list!) and loved it, and the description for this one said it was prefect for Gone Girl fans. Personally I didn't find that much similarity between the two story-lines, however it is certainly very gripping, and kept me intrigued all the way through. The story has a few interesting twists and turns, and the ending was pleasantly unexpected. 

3. The Fault in our Stars - John Green

This has been by far my favourite read so far, I barely put it down and had finished it in one long afternoon! This is one of those stories that makes you laugh and cry at the same time, and the characters pull you in al the way through. 

On a side note, I mentioned to Jamie several times about how much I enjoyed this story (he arrived home just as I finished it and I rambled on for quite a while!) and so he bought me the DVD of the film for Christmas. As well all know film adaptions of books aren't always the best, but this one was very pleasing. The characters and scenery are exactly as I pictured them, and it too managed to make me cry and laugh at the same time! I definitely recommend both the film and the book.

4. The Shock of the Fall - Nathan Filer

This one was very different from anything I've read before (admittedly I haven't read much for a long time). Its written from the perspective of a character slipping into mental illness, so the style of writing is very unique. The fonts change throughout out the book, as Matthew moves between his own home, where he uses a typewriter, and the hospital, where he uses a computer. There are letters and drawings dotted amongst the pages and the story is written in an unconventional order. A book about mental illness may not sound too appealing but this is a lovely, creatively written story about a very intriguing character, I definitely recommend it.

I also read An abundance of Katherines by John Green, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. As you can probably guess, I purchased these two after reading The Fault in Our Stars. These two are both enjoyable and have some great strong characters, but not quite as interesting or emotional as The Fault in Our Stars.

I have several books on my shelves waiting for me to read them this month, including Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and Wonder by R J Palacio. At the moment I'm reading Grow Your Handmade Business by Kari Chapin (and very much enjoying it), but as soon as thats finished I'll be making a start on Gone Girl.

What books have you enjoyed recently?

Any suggestions for me?

Wise Words: Shine

We're over a week into 2015 now (where did that go?) but I'm keeping with the New Year positivity for this Wise Words illustration.

"This is your time to shine"

A little bit of motivation to make 2015 an amazing year.

I've made some good progress this week with the new card range, and a little collection is starting to come together. Next week I'll be sharing some images from my sketchbook with you, and hopefully very soon I'll have a finished collection to show you!

In the mean time I'll be trying to keep up with these Wise Words and Over & Over illustrations, as well as sharing little snippets of my work over on Instagram (@EmmaMargaretIllustration)

Over & over: January Brights

For the first pattern of 2015, I've gone with a brightly coloured floral pattern (because January is grey enough already!).

This was quite quickly put together as I'm still in the process of getting back on track with working again. I haven't made any decisions yet on what the next few patterns will be, so any suggestions will be very much appreciated!

You can view all of my past 'Over & over' patterns here.

Life: Hello 2015!

Happy New Year!

Hope 2015 is treating you all well so far!

So Christmas has flown by yet again! Did you all have a good one? I had a quiet Christmas with Mum, Dad, Jamie and Beabea, and also spent a few days with Jamie's family down in Portsmouth. I was treated to lots of lovely presents this year, including:

-A few additions to my Disney Classics DVD collection

-Some lovely clothes and a pair of boots

-Some Tombow brush pens

-A great selection of books including 'Grow your handmade business' by Keri Chapin, and 'Gone Girl'.

What was your favourite gift this year?

I didn't manage to take many pictures over the last two weeks, but here are a few snippets:

-I made lots of these this Christmas! This batch in particular were for Jamie's office.

-I also did a lot of wrapping as you can see here!

-Beabea got a little snowman rope toy for Christmas which she barely stopped playing with.

-New year was a quiet one with a take-away, chocolate fondue and party poppers.

Today is my first official work day of the year. I'm spending the morning doing a bit of planning and organising, getting my self ready to get on with the rest of the new designs. I'm aiming to have everything finished and ready to put in the shop by next month, so these next few weeks are going to be pretty busy! To help keep me organised, I'm making myself both a weekly planner, and a year planner to map out what I aim to achieve each month in 2015.

The shop is now re-opened, and there's 10% off everything all through January with the code JANUARY23, as well as lots of Sale items up to 50% off.

As always I'll be sharing plenty of updates on Instagram (@EmmaMargaretIllustration), and I'm going to try very hard to keep up with blogging too!