Happy August!

The summer holidays are here and it's time to reveal this month's desktop wallpaper for my email subscribers.  
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August is all about days out with plenty of ice cream. It's also the month when fruits ripen, harvest arrives and there's plenty of action in those hedgerows around the village fete for those who choose to look.  Like these cheeky blackbirds feasting on the cherries and sloes.
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Talking of birds, berries and 'Summer In Bloom'.  Last month saw the launch of my first collection of paper craft products with Create & Craft called 'Summer In Bloom'.  The launch meant a big trip away from my desk to the studios of Create & Craft TV to appear on the launch show.

I have never, ever done anything like that before so it was very nerve wracking and exciting all rolled into one.  I am so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to do it as it was a wonderful experience and I couldn't have been better looked after by the Create and Craft team, they are so welcoming, kind and helpful. The thing I was most excited about and a little overwhelmed to see, was what the team of crafters had made with the products with my designs on.  Seeing the collection all laid out as made up decoupage cards and pictures in lots of different ways, for the first time ever was a moment I will always remember and treasure.

When I started out creating my own illustration collections, I would never have imagined I would see my designs on kits and paper craft products for Create and Craft just a few years later, I really did have to pinch myself to check it was real....

Turns out it was real and the products are very real too and they are available from the Create & Craft website here:

SUMMER IN BLOOM PAPER CRAFT COLLECTION

The other thing I was up to last month was gathering stock to add to a wonderful pop up shop in my home town.  The Crafty Collective in Angel Place, Bridgwater are a team of like minded creative businesses, who collectively have taken on a short term lease of what has often been an empty unit in a prime retail location in the town.  They have filled it with lots of lovely gifts by local artists and crafts people and now they have let me have a shelf in their shop.  At the end of July I dropped off lots of prints, planners, posters and notebooks which will now be available from their shop.

I love what they have done and hope that this pop up becomes a long term feature of our high street.  I've certainly been supporting it and love that more and more towns are having pop ups like this spring up thanks to communities of creative businesses.  This is a movement I am very happy to get behind and whole heartedly support as it makes our town centres a much more exciting and vibrant place to be....

I hope you have a wonderful August!

​Best wishes

Happy July to you!

Time to reveal this month's desktop wallpaper for my email subscribers.  

This month let me take you down, 'cause we're going to strawberry fields!
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Down in this lovely strawberry patch we can see lots of busy little creatures enjoying the sun ripened, sweet and juicy strawberries.
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JOIN MY MAILING LIST HERE

​Now that summer has arrived, it's the time of year to get my skates on and work on all the new designs I've had buzzing in my head during the winter months - which is when I'm mostly busy with online order fulfilment and commission work.

There's definitely a seasonality to my work and summer is the best time for new creative development.  There's so much about to inspire, it's definitely a time of year I thoroughly enjoy...

​Part of that creative development time had been set aside for developing some patterns to add some new designs to my Spoonflower store.  Here are some the latest additions I've added to my store this week...

Over at my Spoonflower, you will now lots of new ditsy florals and bright fruity, summery designs ideal for summer sewing projects...

​Here's to a bright and sunny July!
Best wishes