Wearable Art!

I have been planning a super secret project recently... secret because generally when I announce my intentions I usually fail to see it thru!
It's an idea I have been working on for a while, a way of making my designs wearable... I can't get a consistently good print with the gocco to do T-shirts or other clothing (good enough for me anyway... blame the perfectionist in me) so I decided to start small with Brooches.
I used my new feather designs which I made specially for this project and sewed them to felt with interfacing between them to strengthen and stiffen the fabric. I wanted to make something quite big so it could be wearable art... but I made some little ones too!
I'll be listing them on etsy very soon, they are all unique and the buttons on them are all collected over the last 10 years from various places. It's nice to be able to use them for something, normally I just hoard them!

New Designs, Feathers and Neglectful Blogging

Oh Dear... It's been a while since my last blog so I should probably fill you in on the last months happening. I haven't had much time for Inky things and have been really busy with my other felty business, Feltmeupdesigns... I booked my first fair, and while some inky things are coming with me it's the Wool Weekend in Harrogate so I can only take a few and the rest needs to be wooly things.
I have managed to make time for a couple of new designs the Little Owl prints you may have already seen in my shops and some new feather designs. I got a new riso fountain pen which has the ink that is required to make gocco screens in it so have been experimenting with that, it's lovely and makes the most beautiful fluid mark... the fibretip pens I have been using are great but they don't quite feel right to draw with when you are used to dip pens.I have also been working on a secret project... secret because I wasn't sure if I would mess it up so I am keeping it quiet for now... let just say it involves sewing... and is quite pretty! I might unveil it later in the week but I want to make a few new things before I do.I have been slowly building up my folksy shop... I'm aiming for 100 items in it by early september and I'm getting there... it involves a lot of going thru stock and listing, which can be painfully slow but very necessary.I'm looking forward to getting this fair out of the way so I can focus on more Ink based projects! I have so many ideas my head may explode!!!

Singing Bird...

Here's a sneak peek at my latest drawing which I plan on turning into a print... it's a wood warbler in full song.These tiny little guys are amazing they weigh less than 1o grams but make a migration from Africa to the UK and Europe every year. I thought he would look great on some vintage music sheets and book pages... I also have some fabric collage ideas but that's a secret project for later in the year!I drew this little chap freehand, the first time in a long time I have trusted my skills and not drawn a pencil outline first, it means that my style is a little freer and more spontaneous... I'm really happy with him!

Print Class...

Every Tuesday night I go to print class... mostly to learn new thing but also to be able to be creative without the pressure to make something saleable. We had a short break but now we're back and have been learning how to make collographs... it's good fun and I enjoyed learning a new technique!

The Collograph

The Print

I made 2 collographs... one tester with lots of different textures and mark making in it and one wren... because I kinda have to now that it's my signature!

The Collograph

The Print

This Is my world...

Today I thought I'd do something a bit different... It's open studios across the North Yorkshire this week, artists throw open their doors and invite the world in to see the place where the magic happens... I've only had my studio space a few weeks and it's in my flat on the top floor so I can't invite the world in... instead I have made you a little tour over on flickr...

The Studio Tour

20 pictures of the place I spend the vast majority or my time... please visit my studio... each picture has notes or a description so feel free to click thru them all and leave notes where ever you like...

x
mel

And the winner is...

All the entries are in... I had a blast running this competition, I met lots of lovely new friends and fans and followers and you all overwelmed me with all the nice things you said... so the winner, as selected by random number generator is...

Sue at The Krafty Cupcake she has the cutest blog and etsy shop... well done Sue!

Yay... sorry to everyone who didn't win but we'll be doing another one of these when we get to the big 1000 sales mark at Feltmeupdesigns we'll have a huge giveaway party with lots of cake and ice cream!

Don't worry if you didn't win there is a coupon code which will get you 25% off your whole order at all my stores, just pop the code in at check out for you cheeky discount

25OFF

You can use this at Inkmeup or Feltmeup or Feltanomicon... or all 3 if you are feeling in a shopping mood!

Don't say I never do nuffin for ya! See you all soon with lots of new designs and another giveaway as soon as we hit our next big number!

Owls, Owls Everywhere Win an Owl Goodie Bag!!!

I love owls... and I am super pleased with my new owl design so to celebrate I am going to give away a whole pile of Owlie goodies!There's just one prize this time but it's a nice big one! The winner will get a pair of my Evening Song owl prints on vintage sheet music, a moleskine notebook, an owl lavender sachet, assorted inky postcards and a feltmeupdesigns owl of their choice!This is a fab prize worth more than £60 and it's up for grabs for one lucky winner all you have to do is the following:

Go to Inkmeup and pick your favourite item in my shop and then leave a comment telling me which design you like best here with a way for me to contact you (twitter, facebook or etsy usernames, if you leave an email address please leave it as myname(at)somewheredotcom)

For an extra entry you can visit Inkmeup on facebook and become a fan and leave a message for me there to say hello (existing fans just pop by my wall and say hi)

Or you can follow the blog by clicking the follow box in the side bar for another chance to win, then leave a comment to say you follow.

You can also get an extra entry by posting the following on twitter then pop back here and leave a comment to say you have:
Win an Owl goody bag by @feltmeupdesigns and Inkmeup http://tinyurl.com/253tddx

Competition closes next thursday 9th June and the winner will be informed within 3 days of the competition closing. Which Feltmeupdesigns owl would you chose? A barn owl? A snowy owl... I'm very excited about this competition!

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