New Illustration: Make a wish!

Just a quick post today with two new illustrations to show you.

This one is for the fairytale colouring book (Obviously it will be black and white in the final product!)

And this one is for the floral themed colouring book:

I got the pages all printed out yesterday and I'll be starting to put them together soon ready for Renegade Craft Fair!

Over & over: Once upon a Time

As part of the new products I'm working on at the moment, I needed to make a fairytale themed pattern, which is also serving as an Over & over post for this week!

This pattern is being used in one of the new colouring books, and is made up of lots of things that I relate to fairytales:

Glass slippers, Apples, Crowns, Pumpkins, Stars, Toadstools, Mirrors and flowers!

I'll be back later in the week with a few more new illustrations!

Shop: Renegade Inspiration

With Renegade fast approaching (less than 3 weeks to go now!) I've been looking for inspiration for my stall set up and fun display ideas.

I've spent lots of time (when I should be working on new products) looking through Renegade's photos of past fairs on Pinterest and Flickr, as well as various blog posts about 2013 and 2014's London fairs, and getting lots of inspiration. So I thought I'd share some of my favourites here, and it'll also give you a taste of the standard of sellers you can expect to see if you visit the fair this year!

This one is from Renegade's "Exceptional Booth Set-ups" board on Pinterest (I'm not sure what fair its from).

Here Paper Generation have used various old boxes and chests to display their paper goods.

I've followed the work of Katie from Oh Squirrel for quite a while now and always love every picture she posts on her Instagram. I particularly love her display from last year, she's used so many clever ways of displaying her beautiful products, and I'd definitely be stopping for a look if I walked past this stall!

Hello Harriet is another brilliant maker who's work I've followed for quite a while (if you like cats you should definitely check out her work!)

For the 2013 fair she made lots of her own displays which all looked great. I especially liked the "Tattoo Parlour" she made for her temporary tattoos!

Hand-making displays is a great idea if (like me) you've already spent quite a lot on stock and want to save a bit of money, plus you can make it to the exact sizes you want to suit your products!

Another one from Renegade's "Exceptional Booth Set-ups" Pinterest board (again not sure what fair its from) of a fantastic display by Stationery Bakery.

I love everything about this display: The bunting, the ladders as shelves, the animals and the cards pegged up onto string! This is a great alternative display to just using a table.

(Photo source)

I love the style of this display by Emma Carlisle, the big chest full of products reminds me of a pick'n'mix or something in a toy shop, this would definitely stand out and make me stop and look!

There's plenty more Craft Fair inspiration over on my Pinterest board!

I definitely need to get working to come up with an interesting set-up! I have quite a lot of new products to display so I need plenty of ideas for adding space an height to my booth.

Wise Words: Yesterday

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I wouldn't be doing any Wise Words (or Over & Over) posts for a while as I had a hectic few weeks ahead. But one of the projects I'm working on actually involved me creating some new illustrations on the theme of positive quotes and phrases (all will be revealed soon!) so I thought I'd share one of those with you as this week's Wise Words post.

"Don't let a bad yesterday ruin a good today."

Snap snap: 16/03/15

- Working on some new illustrations

- The fabric I've been designing arrived!

- Beabea decided to make herself comfortable on the pile of cushions on the sofa

- Making some new products using shrink plastic

- Post-baking

- Pencil cases coming soon!

- And travel card holders too

- Working on some more fabric pattern deisgns

- Soft plush ornaments also coming soon

- Continuing with the diary doodles

- My mum treated me to this lovely Cath Kidston book which has been giving me lots of ideas for future products!

- Still very excited by the news that we're off to Renegade next month!

Me and Jamie have also just booked a holiday for May so I'll be sharing a little about that soon!

And as always you can keep up to date with all of this over on my Instagram account.

Shop: We're going to Renegade!

Hello!

You may have already seen via my Instagram/Twitter/Facebook, but I have some exciting news to share!

Last week I found out that I've been accepted to sell at the first ever Renegade London Spring Fair! On the 11th and 12th April, myself and lots of other lovely creatives will be selling our wares at the Old Truman Brewery from 11am til 6pm. You can find out all the details here.

At the fair I'll be launching lots of new products, including pencil cases, badges and colouring books, and my greeting cards will all be on sale at a special show price.

As I've already mentioned I'll also be selling at Crafty Fox Market on the 25th April, so if you can't make it to Renegade, you'll find me there with all the new products.

In the mean time, you can see sneak peeks of what I'm making and the preparations for the show over on Instagram.

New Illustration: Fairytales

Some of the new products I'm working on have required me to revisit my old Once Upon a Time project and create some new illustrations with the characters.

Today I've been working with Snow White, Rapunzel, The Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood.

These images will look quite different when they're made into a final product, as they won't contain any colour! These 4, along with 6 others are going to be made into a Fairytales colouring book. I'm also working on ones with Animal, Pattern and Quote themes. All of the designs will be launched at a craft fair next month (more on that later this week!)

Shop: New Stockists (And some updates!)

Last month I gained two great new stockists for my cards: Nook & Cranny in Liverpool and Elle Aime in the Netherlands!

(Photos from @shopelleaime on Instagram)

Both shops now stock a selection of my card designs amongst their lovely displays of beautiful products. Its definitely a compliment to have my work amongst so many wonderful makers!

I also had some great news in the form of acceptance into Crafty Fox Market this Spring!

On April 25th I'll be joining an array of makers and crafters at the Dogstar in Brixton to sell my wares!

I'll be selling my new card designs, PLUS lots of new products that I've been working on over the last few weeks (follow me on Instagram for some sneak peeks! @EmmaMargaretIllustration)

I've got lots to work on over the next few weeks so I'll be taking a break from the Over & Over and Wise Words posts for a little while. But I'll still be sharing what I'm up to and hopefully creating new illustrations regularly!

Over & over: More Fabric patterns!

This week I'm sharing the other two patterns that I designed to have printed onto fabrics for some new products.

These ones are filled with fun animals, and banners with positive sayings.

The fabrics have now arrived, and I've made a start on a variety of new products, including card holders and hanging ornaments. Hopefully they'll be ready to share soon!

New Illustration: Dolly Dog

Whilst I've been working on all the new card and fabric designs, I haven't taken much time to illustrate just for the sake of illustrating, to make new work just because I want to. I've decided to try and change this now, starting last week with a new dog illustration.

Woof!