Snap snap: 11/09/15

The last few weeks in photos.

- New postcards in the shop.

- I'm (very slowly) putting together an illustration inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Its taken a bit of  a back seat at the moment as lots of other things have come up, but I still plan on finishing it soon.

- The bake off is back on TV which means I'm constantly tempted to get baking! I did give in on biscuit week and made some gingerbread biscuits (with sprinkles, of course)

- Being a huge fan of anything unicorn related I clearly couldn't resist the new range at Paperchase and had to treat myself to a diary and some stickers!

- I went on a fantastic trip to Norway last month and have been using my photos as inspiration for a new series of drawings.

- I spent a couple of evenings reading through my favourite Illustration books looking for inspiration.

- The Positive Thoughts colouring books have been really popular the last few weeks! They've now sold out for the second time and are back on pre-order in the shop.

- I'm also working on a range of notebooks and have been trying to decide which of my postcard designs to use on the covers.

Snap snap: 05/08/15

Life lately in photos.

- I've been working on a few larger, more detailed versions of some of my existing designs for a new project.

- The postcards have been pretty popular lately. They're on offer for 6 for £10 in my Etsy shop.

- She gets more and more cuddly every time she comes to visit.

- I've just finished reading Alice in Wonderland and have plans for quite a large new illustration. It make might take me a while to fit it in around everything else but I hope to have it finished soon!

- I'm working on an exciting (but secret) project involving Sharpie pens

- On Sunday I went to London to meet these lovely girls, talk art stuff and get excited about anything with Unicorns on!

- Monday I went back in to London to meet Hollie for a long overdue catch up. I also had my first bubble tea which has turned out to be one of my new favourite things!

- My sketchbook has been filled with all sorts of objects and animals lately, including my favourite: Giraffes! I'll share more of a look into my sketchbooks again next week.

Keep up to date with everything I'm doing over on Instagram.

What have you been up to lately?

Snap snap: 17/7/15

 The last few weeks in photos.

- Sketches for my Turkish Rug inspired pattern.

- I finally updated my website!

- My Etsy shop reached 100 sales :)

- Pineapple doodles.

- Sweet peas from a lovely friend.

- Me and Jamie spent a fantastic day at Wembley Stadium watching Ed Sheeran (with special guest Elton John)

- Ice cream party sketches.

- The unicorn cards are still proving to be my most popular design!

- Drawing happily ever afters.

- Visits from Beabea (and lots of cuddles)

- More lovely flowers.

- I've added some new gift packs to my Etsy shop.

Snap snap: 24/06/15

Life lately in photos

- Currently reading Alice in Wonderland. A new illustration project should follow soon!

- Its been a varied few months in my sketchbook: Nail polishes, moons, castles, watermelons and pigeons!

- WIP for the Bir Zamanlar Illustration

- Picnics in Greenwich Park

- Packing up products for my newest stockists, Cheekyboo Emporium!

- A day trip to Chessington for Jamie's birthday

- I've added several new designs to my Art Rookie shop including watermelons, pineapples and pandas!

- Sketches for a new illustration (look out for the finished version later in the week)

What have you been up to lately?

Snap snap: 31/05/15

May in Photos

- Definitely the highlight of the month was our trip to Turkey. You can read all about it and see the pictures here.

- After the holiday it was straight back to work organising stock.

- I spent the bank holiday weekend with my family and got to spend some time in the garden (we don't have a garden in our place so it makes a nice change to get outside!)

- Initial sketches for a new illustration I'm working on inspired by the holiday (I'll share it here once its finished!)

- I finally got round to doing a new Wise Words post, this time inspired by Lady & the Tramp. You can view the finished version here.

- Beabea came to visit again and spent a lot of her time in her favourite spot looking out the window.

For regular updates you can follow along on Instagram!

PS. I'll be sending out the next newsletter tomorrow so if you haven't already signed up, you can do so here.

Snap Snap: 28/04/15

Hello!

I'm several weeks behind on my Snap Snap posts so this one is covering the whole of April (which has been a pretty hectic month) instead of just the one week!

- New products in progress. This was for the colouring books which are now up for sale in my Etsy and Folksy shops.

- I treated myself to a lovely new camera.

- Sketchbook doodles.

- Easter cupcakes.

- Packing up cards for Renegade Craft Fair. There's more Renegade prep pictures here.

- Pretty flowers for my stall at the craft fair.

- Beabea helped me pack for the fair, but she wasn't too impressed that she couldn't come with us!

- A fantastic weekend at Renegade. Read my full round-up and craft fair tips here.

- One of the treats I bought myself at Renegade. A peach & almond candle from East Wick.

- The unicorn cards were a big hit at Renegade and sold out over the weekend! They're back in stock now on Etsy and Folksy.

- We spent a weekend down in Portsmouth visiting Jamie's family and had a fun day at in Southsea.

- Designing fairytale palaces for a fun new commission.

- My little helper likes to nap on the job quite a lot.

- Updating my wholesale catalogue (still in progress!)

- Another stack of cards for Crafty Fox Market and stockist Nook & Cranny,

- Folksy held a little giveaway over the weekend to win one of my Purrfect brooches.

- My stall at Crafty Fox Market in Brixton last weekend.

- Bee doodles.

- I had intended to design a new business card for when I re-ordered from the printers last week, but after their popularity at Renegade I decided to keep the unicorns around a little longer!

- A little peek at the project I'm currently working on.

April has been a hectic (but fun, and very creative) month, and I'm now very much looking forward to May which just happens to include a week's holiday to Turkey!

I'll be back soon with an In my Sketchbook post. 

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.

Snap snap: 20/02/15

I've gotten behind gain, and this is my first Snap snap post in February, and its been a busy month, so I have quite a bit to share:

- After completing my card designs in January, I placed a big order at the printers. A few days later I received a very exciting delivery filled with lots of new cards, and these new business cards, thank you notes and stickers!

- Of course the new cards were the main part of the order, and they're all now available to buy on my Etsy shop or direct from my website. Let me know what you think!

- Before getting on with new projects, I took a bit of time to do some drawing just for myself, which included animals in pretty clothes!

- A second delivery also arrived, some colourful stickers from Moo.com, to make all my packages prettier.

-The diary doodles are still going well.

- Weekly visits from Beabea.

- I'm selling off some old stock to make room for the new cards. For £10 you can get an A5 print, 3 cards, and 2 sets of gift tags (all screen-printed) and UK postage. If you'd like one just contact me with your paypal e-mail address.

- The drawing I did in January of Mr Bear was given a bit of colour.

- I've spent several hours packing up card orders for some new stockists (more on that soon)

- Thumb-nailing ideas for fabric patterns (I'm working on some fun new products)

- Positive phrases banners for one of the new patterns.

- And finally, a page full of bees!

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)

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)

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!)

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.

Snap snap: 06/12/14

Its been well over a month since I wrote a "Snap snap" post!

I think its time to catch up...

-Drawing animals in party hats

-Pretty flowers on the dining table

-Packing up the new Christmas cards (available here)

-Sketching out new ideas...

-...And the final coloured illustration (this will be part of my new collection in January)

-Animals with balloons!

-Ideas for "Wise words" posts

-Lucky dip 10 screen-printed cards for £10 in the shop.

-Designing some new animal characters, including Hermoine the Horse (see the full set here)

-Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas! The tree is up and the festive candles are out!

-Speaking of which, this Freshly Baked Shortbread candle I picked up in Camden Market smells absolutely amazing!

-Mini succulent doodles for a new card idea

For more snaps of life lately, follow my Instagram account @emmamargaretillustration

Hopefully it won't be another 6 weeks before my next post!

Snap snap: 18/10/14

The last week in photos.

This week has involved lots of drawing & designing...

- Packing up Etsy orders.

- Designing Christmas cards (with a special visitor in the background).

- Designing wedding stationery.

- Catching up on Downton Abbey (This mini print is still available in my shop for £2.50)

I've done much more drawing than this over the week, but I'll save that for an "In my Sketchbook" post next week!

Snap snap: 04/10/14

The last two weeks in photos.

- Friday visits from Beabea are a highlight of my week.

- Working on some new illustrations, I'll be sharing them here soon!

- Doodling for a new pattern.

- Making notes on some fairytales I'm hoping to illustrate.

-There's lots of items reduced in my Etsy shop, including all hand printed cards reduced to £1.50 each.

- Sketching for last week's "Wise Words" post.

- Baking rainbow cookies. My first attempt didn't go too well, but the second ones were a lot better. And who doesn't love the smell of freshly baked cookies drifting through their home??

- Leafy doodles whilst at work.

Snap snap: 17/09/14

The last week in photos.

- Preparing everything for the shop update. There are now lot of new items available to buy from my Etsy Shop or Website.

- Pretty flowers from Mum and Dad.

- With Downton Abbey starting up again this Sunday, it seemed liked a good to time to list this Downton themed mini print in my shop!

- Drawing cakes for some new pattern designs.

Now that the shop is up and running again, and I'm settling into my new routine in our new home and new jobs, I'm finally getting the time to get back to drawing again. I'll be sharing some snippets from my sketchbook later this week, and I also have plans for some new illustrated features here on the blog:

- Illustrated Eats: Fun food recipes using my illustrations as diagrams

- Wise Words: Similar to my old "Say it right" feature, but this time I'll be illustrating the quotes rather than using computer fonts.

- Over & Over: A series of pattern designs, I'm hoping to create a new one each week using drawings I create whilst I'm at my day job!

Snap snap: 09/09/14

The last few weeks in photos.

- This was taken a few days before we left mum and dad's. Beabea has habit of laying on anything that you put on the floor or sofa. Washing and ironing piles belong to her.

- Planning the layout of the new place.

- New giraffe illustration, available on a variety of products on Society6 and Art Rookie.

- Plant shopping.

- Packing up for the move.

- Making patterns.

- All the new designs available in my Society6 shop.

- Lovely flowers and moving in cards at our new home.

- My new studio space. See more pictures and a little info about it here.

- We're all in agreement that a new oven must be christened by cooking a huge chocolate cake, right?

- Beabea came to visit me for the day and spent quite a while lying on my desk looking for cats out the window.

- Experimenting with new product ideas for the shop.

Snap Snap: 08/08/14

The last two weeks in photos.

- Adding pattern details to some illustrations.

- A lovely walk in the sun with these two. This has to be my favourite picture of the three of us <3

- My book on display at the Conningsby Gallery in London.

- Iced lattes in the sun.

- A beautiful Rifle Paper card from my cousins.

- Lots of drawing has been happening lately.

- Pretty flowers at the pub.

- Strawberry doodles

To keep up to date with what I'm up to, you can follow me on Instagram, here.

Snap Snap: 24/06/14

Last week in photos:

-Posing with my book at the exhibition

- Feeding the deer at Longleat Safari Park

- <3

- Fun on the rides at Southsea for Jamie's birthday

- It totally forgot to buy banners and balloons, so at 6am on Jamie's birthday I was up making paper balloons and using washi tape to write on the walls.

- A trip to Sprinkles was obviously needed for birthday celebrations.

- I made Jamie pancakes for breakfast

- A potentially exciting meeting happened at the Grand Harbour Hotel on Wednesday. Fingers crossed!

Life: Longleat Safari Park

Last weekend Mum and Dad came down to Southampton for the exhibition at uni. Whilst they were here we went on a trip to Longleat Safari Park (one of my favourite childhood holiday destinations!).

We had a lovely day and the weather was brilliant, and all but one of the animal species made an appearance for us (the wolves were hiding away somewhere)! I had loads of fun feeding the deer through the car windows, and we had a monkey take a ride on the roof whilst we drove around the enclosure.

It was a very last minute trip so I don't have as many photos as I would usually have taken as my camera battery was pretty low, but here are a few snaps form the day: