Surprize card sales

Ive had a few cards listed on Photobox since December and was pleased to discover today that I have actually had some royalties! Ok so its not enough to get too excited about, but it means that I can continue to upload cards onto that site and hope for some more sales.

Wise words

I drew this little owl while waiting outside my daughters ballet class, now here he is ready to upload onto istock. I want to do some more in this style too, so will be drawing more decorative birds and animals.

Office chat

As I don't work in an office maybe this little team of people are my imaginary colleagues!! Thought I would go for a more hand drawn look for this istock upload, so lets see if they approve it. Illustrator is so clever, as Ive managed to get exactly the same lines as the drawing I scanned in. (with a little help and advice from the lovely fellow istockers in the forums over there!)

Kitty stitch

Last night I knitted 'kitty' to join owl in my etsy shop. Louisa is a Chinese Monkey, so I made her a cute monkey and now Ruby would like a snake... that's her Chinese sign. Yesterday I was looking into ways to direct people to my shop and flickr is a good way to network on line. So now I have my account set up, I will post my designs and handmade things there. Although strictly speaking flickr is just about sharing photos, many designers like to showcase their work. Its a great place to get inspired online.

Owl tweetie

Knitted owl is my latest addition to kittystitch my etsy shop. I knitted him a few months ago and now Ive made him into a keyring, so I hope somebody likes him enough to buy him now!

Beautiful tile

I first saw this tile in a reclaimed fireplace warehouse .....but it was a bit too expensive and it was one of a pair. I love turquoise and love the design. My hubby, however decided to buy them for me and came home with them a few days later. Thank you!

New butterfly brooch

Ive just listed a new brooch in my etsy shop, made using vintage scraps and trims, I think this butterfly looks pretty sweet. The book I photographed it on, is one I found at the Brighton station market, inside are hand painted Japanese illustrations. Its one of my favourite things. If anyone knows much about this type of book please email me, or leave a comment as I would love to know more about it. : ) The old phtographs are of my great great aunts.

Kitchen things

Here are my latest istock drawings. I love kitchen stuff and tend to take photos of unusual spoons, cooking utensils and bowls when I go over to friends houses! (yes I'm weird right!) A friend of mine made me a gorgeous oven glove for Christmas, I will post a photo soon.

Brooches and sew it begins

Well my little bag full of vintage scraps and beads, which has been following me about all Christmas has finally come out this weekend and resulted in the beginings of my brooch making project! I made a butterfly for one of my friends at Chirstmas and this set of brooches are in the same style. I love using scraps of old lace and trims like this. Heres Ruby looking gorgeous modelling it for me!

Happy new year

Well the new school term has now begun and I find myself with 9-3 every day to design! However, with the credit crunch declining into recession it may not be the greatest of times to find myself in this position. I am currently working on my istock portfolio, and have been organizing that into sections with new banners. Istock has been a great way to learn a new skill (illustrator) and meet other designers on line. Who knows what 2009 will bring ..I aim to have more skills under my belt, and also to continue with my kitty stitch blog. I also want to make more of my etsy shop so I will be adding things to that too. Life as a freelance textile designer is not very stable at the moment to say the least. But I think its important for me to keep up with the fashion industry and to keep my hand in while we ride these turbulant times.